Most of the Dusun Minda Resort National Service Training Centre (NS) trainees in Padang Terap, Kedah who contracted the H1N1 virus are on the mend.    

Health Ministry (Public Health) deputy director-general Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said, however, that they were still under observation by medical officers and isolated in a separate block at the camp.    

“The ill trainees have been separated from the rest of the camp. All those with light influenza symptoms are now stable and there have been no ward admissions,” he said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.    

He said four cases were confirmed as influenza A (H1N1), while as of yesterday, 61 trainees, comprised of 40 girls and 21 boys, showed symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) out of the 416 trainees who were exposed to the virus.

The Health Ministry advised the public with symptoms of ILI to avoid crowded places and for high risk groups to seek immediate treatment and get the seasonal influenza vaccine which also covers H1N1, currently available in the market.   

The public are also urged to take simple steps to prevent the spread of the disease such as maintaining a high level of cleanliness and washing hands often with soap and water or sanitisers.

- Bernama