Mid Term Break

This is one break that I look forward to with a huge relief, not so much of the usual exuberance that comes with the break... More of relief! Cos I don't have to be surrounded by people half my day! This round of flu has made me highly sensitive to coughs, sniffles and flushed faces. Teaching has suddenly become rather dangerous! I have become sensitive to the people who cough or 'sniff' around me! There are a few teachers from the confirmed mortality list and who knows how many other deaths were tipped over by the this virus?

The most recent case to have made the headline.. a Maths and Science teacher, Chai Mee Feng from SMK USJ 12. May she R.I.P. A seemingly healthy and fit 39-year-old teacher. Developed fever and flu, one week later, she had severe pneumonia and multiple organs failure. The authority say she didn't die of H1N1. And if you read this blog post, which I assume is one of her students, they have another teacher by the name of Ms Chow in the ICU. It seems there's another teacher under quarantine.

I don't see the school admin watching out for our welfare.... Don't know what to believe anymore. One day the mortality rate, highlighted translated to a high percentage.. then a couple of days later (after Kit Siang highlighted and questioned it) the number of deaths started to drop but the number of reported confirmed cases begin to rise. At this rate, our mortality rate will surely come down... doing of our own undoing?

But this looks set to stay.... going to be around for a while this flu thing. The spread is too far and wide. And the measures are rather slip shod. A lot of flip-flops too.. one minute, they accuse docs who used the Rapid Test Kit as profit minded. Next minute the DG of Health says the use the Rapid Test Kits is 70 - 90% accurate... but Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman of Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), says it only detects 25% of the cases, thereby creating a sense of false security.

This is the time, perhaps we should let the professionals do the running.. not politicians who don't do their homework very well. I could go on to the Fluhalt (generic Tamiflu) which is being used... which the Minister now says should be sold at RM80 per box. The generic company which produces this started charging almost double when the situation got worse... Social responsibility??? What's that? Those private docs who bought it at that price now have to bear the loss... Word on the ground gave the impression that the Flu Halt were going for RM150... more expensive than Tamiflu, the original oseltamivir.

Masks in school... don't think so they do much good. Kids' hands are just too itchy and the mask feels uncomfortable on their faces. And they're uncomfortable.

This was 2 nights ago. I took out a bag of 3-ply masks. Daughter was immediately fascinated by it... and I guess she wanted to try. The novelty of something new I supposed. And being the diplomatic lil gal she is, she told me she wanted to learn how to use it... I said okay and promptly fastened one onto her face.

Before the first minute was over, she was already tugging at it. At the end of the first 5 minutes, she wanted to take it off. I told her she had to learn to get used to it as I heard her school had made school masks mandatory. She went down to get me a cup of water... but when she came up, she was already in tears... from the discomfort of the mask and because I refused to let her take it out! Aiyo! How do you keep the mask on the children's faces? So, for children, we have to physically separate them... right now, the authorities and kiasu parents are doing a horrible job of it!

Anyway, I quote this...

Dr Adeeba also said that face masks were not useful in preventing the spread of the virus but what was important was to practise personal hygiene and observe the quarantine period.

She cited a report by the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta which says mask-use by either infected patients or health-care personnel does not prevent the transmission of viruses.

"While the mask is effective in preventing those already infected with the virus from spreading it, it actually does nothing to prevent healthy people from getting the disease," said the report.

For the past 2 weeks, I've started 'yelling' at my students who were coughing to wear masks in class... and if they refused to comply I threatened to send them out of my class into the corridors. And I've also started telling my students to distant themselves... not that I succeed each time! *sigh* Plus I seem to be disinfecting my hands all the time at work also....

So, this mid term break is a real welcomed break... fasting begins during the break too! Hopefully people won't be falling sick! Selamat berpuasa....

An update... (25/08/08) From The Star, Ms Chai's death was reported by the Minister of Health and he said she was from a high risk group. I looked at her photos from her students' blogs... either she must have gained lots of weight before she died or everyone of us is also obese. Plus the daily updates from the MOH's own web (for 24/08) page also did not indicate any other underlying probs. And I wonder too how transparent the gahmen has been with the reporting. And today's news too.. the police pooh-poohed the content of the surat layang about the misconducts of a MACC superior in the Teoh Beng Hock case. Tell me..... they grilled him like 'crazy' over RM2500 (was it for the purchase of flags) but treat someone with the RM20 over million mansion with such respect that they find no fault.... something is very wrong. And this is probably just the tip of the iceberg... dig deeper, there will probably be more worms... lots of stinking worms.