Infectious Disease and the Malaysian Mentality

It's flu season... this season, we've a new 'kid' in town - the H1N1. It's one of those topics that creeps into conversations now. Though the seasonal flu kills more than it, we still do not know exactly how lethal it might be.

And this another interesting piece of news from mainstream papers. It seems the Deputy Education Minister says students will have their temperatures checked before entering classes... Interesting to see how this develops cos the politicians seem to be releasing 'tak boleh pakai' statements all the time... to show that they are on top of things.

I think it's a good thing to have... this temperature check thing. But I really wonder whether we have the will to see to it. The times when we are likely to see things being done is near election time. Roads get done, street lights get fixed, longkang(s) get cleaned, halls get built, all the 'rakyat-based' things get done. Anyway, I await the execution of this latest 'decree' from the venerable politician.

We're having another round of hand-foot-mouth outbreak again in Alor Setar too. This is the second time this year. We seem to take things lightly. Many parents still send their children to nurseries and schools even though their children are not well. They need to work, their children need supervision. You have working mothers pulling their hair now cos Indonesia still hasn't lifted their maid ban to Malaysia. Childcare is a problem and contributes to the spread of infectious disease! So.. infectious diseases spread unabated. Right now, those of us with younger children tend to be more worried as H1N1 is also around. Those with underlying health problems are more susceptible, we have been repeatedly reminded. Sometimes, ignorance is memang bliss.

Back to H1N1 in season... we tell students not to go to school if they are not well. Some are ill, have flu-like symptoms. Guess what? They still show up at school. At a time when most of us are more jittery, we still get such people who seem to take all these very lightly. So, how can we ever hope to contain all these outbreaks... Lucky us this H1N1 is not as virulent as SARS... dread to think whether we could cope if it had been that virulent. The Nipah outbreak doesn't count as it was not highly contagious like SARS or H1N1.

So, what is the Malaysian mentality with this regard? I dunno... sometimes I think we have this 'what will be will be' way of looking at things... and that we feel that things will take care of themselves.... which they do eventually. Depends on which and whose angle you are looking at it from!