STORY TO BE TOLD

Some 119 people died from dengue fever from January to October this year
By Qishin Tariq

PETALING JAYA: A total of 119 people died from dengue fever in the first 10 months of this year, with the latest reported death on Oct 23.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said this was an increase of 45 deaths (or 61%) of the reported deaths within the same period last year. He said the latest death involved a housewife from Ampang Jaya, who first showed signs of fever on Oct 17.

She went to a private clinic Oct 19 and, at about 3pm on the same day, was warded at a private hospital when she complained of fever and body aches.

After four days she was diagnosed with dengue fever. The 69-year-old patient died Oct 23, with the cause of death attributed to dengue shock syndrome.

The medical officer who treated her was penalised with a compound under the Destruction of Disease Bearing Insects Act 1975 for making a late report on the case to the district health department.

Dr Ismail said in its efforts to reduce dengue cases, the Health Ministry is being more strict with enforcement,

Medical practitioners who fail to report dengue fever cases and errant landowners found to be breeding Aedes at their premises could find themselves facing a compound of up to RM500 for the offence.

Dr Ismail said 40,959 cases of dengue fever cases were reported between January and October, an increase of 19% of cases in the corresponding period last year.

However, he said, there were 807 cases of dengue fever last week (ending Oct 30), down 9% from the 888 cases in the previous week.

Selangor reported the most number of new cases, with 19. This was followed by Perak (four) abd the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (two each). Dr Ismail said only three of 26 “hot spots” carried out gotong-royong (community clean-up) to get rid of the menace.

He said in its continuing effort to reduce dengue cases, the Health Ministry is being more strict with enforcement,

Medical practitioners that fail to report dengue fever cases and to errant landowners found to have Aedes breeding grounds on their premises could find themselves facing a fine of up to RM500.

Meanwhile, the number of Chikungunya cases had dropped significantly, down 80%, with 787 cases from January to October this year against 3,988 cases reported in the corresponding period last year.

Baby gets breasts after taking milk powder

A FOUR-MONTH-OLD baby boy from Jiangxi, started to develop breasts and grow pubic hair after consuming milk powder produced by a company in Fujian Province for two weeks, reported Sin Chew Daily.

A medical test showed that He Xiao Bao was suffering from premature sexual development and his mother, Chen Yan Ping said she suspected the milk powder caused the conditions.

Chen alerted the milk powder supplier to investigate the matter but the company denied any responsibility.

She then lodged a complaint with the Department of Industry and Commerce Administra- tion.

> In Singapore, a mother complained of a thin piece of metal found in her baby’s milk powder, reported China Press.

The tour guide, 32, said her maid saw the metal shining in the milk powder when she went to mix the milk for the 22-day-old boy.

She said she was not sure how long the metal had been in the powder and how tainted the powder was by it.

> Taiwanese-American pop idol and music singer Fei Xiang and former Taiwanese celebrity Steven Liu are a gay couple and are reportedly living together in New York City, China Press reported.

The news was revealed by a Guangzhou-based writer Jing Fang, who posted the news on the Chinese Twitter clone.

Fei Xiang, born Kris Phillips on Dec 24, 1960, in Taiwan, rose to fame after his performance at the CCTV New Year’s gala in mainland China in 1987.

Meanwhile, Liu, a Taiwanese pop idol in the 1980s, moved to the United States in 1991 and had cut himself off from the entertainment world since then.

Both Fei Xiang and Liu had once worked for the same company.

● Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a > sign, it denotes a separate news item.

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