Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) is trying to slot in a briefing session before the mid-semester break this weekend for more than 300 student leaders to explain the correct facts and figures related to the recent meningitis scare.
When contacted today, the university's chief medical officer Dr Yahaya Abu Ahmad said they have until midnight to finalise the logistics and the briefing mechanism.
He said the plan is to explain the facts to the student leaders in order for them to reach out to the rest of the student population. The UPM main campus in Serdang, Selangor, has about 30,000 students, both living on and off the grounds.
The student representatives are from the university's 14 colleges, 14 faculties and about 60 student associations, he said.
"We are trying to reach as many students in the shortest time possible. Many students will begin leaving campus tomorrow for the week-long break and we want to catch them before that.
"Whether we get all of them is another matter because there is very limited time."
On whether Petaling district health officer Dr Rushidi Ramly will conduct the briefing session, Yahaya said it will most likely to be him.
Convocation and expo
Two third-year students, Loy Cheah Kee and D Thiyagarajan, died within two days of each other in late June.
The postmortem on Thiyagarajan confirmed that he had died of meningitis, an extremely dangerous and contagious bacterial infection which causes inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The Kajang Hospital confirmed the disease.
Loy's body was however released for burial before the cause of death could be determined. He had suffered from symptoms associated with the disease and the recorded cause was acute pulmonary oedema.
UPM is holding an expo tomorrow followed by the 26th convocation ceremony over the weekend, to be attended by about 15,000 family members and friends.
Earlier in the afternoon, Rushidi had led a delegation of health officers from the Petaling district health department and the Health Ministry's disease control division for a meeting with the doctors in the campus health centre.
When asked about it, Yahaya, who chaired the meeting, said they discussed the precautionary measures taken so far and agreed that monitoring should continue indefinitely.
"We reviewed the actions taken since the two deaths and agreed that the preventive measures were sufficient in the given circumstances.
"Now is the cooling-off period, and we will continue to monitor the situation here," he said.
On whether the source of the disease has been identified, Yahaya said further tests were being conducted by the Institute for Medical Research based on the samples taken by Kajang Hospital.
Don't share towels
Hundreds of UPM students have undergone screening at the campus health centre since July 1 for the killer bacteria, which is usually lodged in the nose and throat of an infected person.
Meningitis is an airborne disease, similar to tuberculosis, and the symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, stiffness of neck, severe headaches, nausea, vomiting and loss of consciousness. Vomiting and loss of consciousness are signs of the advanced stage of infection, leading to death.
As a protection measure, don't share towels and handkerchiefs. Bad ventilation, congested/communal living, stressful surroundings and weak immune system are among the common features linked to the spread of the disease.
