Influenza A (H1N1) - Better safe than sorry

By CHOI TUCK WO

Students returning from abroad for the holidays should self-quarantine.

The balik kampung exodus has started.

No, this is not the traditional Hari Raya festive rush. Rather, it’s the great summer holiday getaway as Malaysian students in Britain head home to be with their families.

With the term break in full swing, there’s never been a better time to hop over to Europe for a short vacation before returning to Malaysia.

For the moment, the economic squeeze seems to have taken a back seat. After all, nothing beats going back to the warmth and love of parents. With reports of swine flu escalating to more than 4,300 cases in Britain, there’s all the more reason to leave the worries behind.

Then again, those arriving at KLIA might have been a little taken aback at the sight of intensive health screenings at the airport to curb the spread of influenza A (H1N1).

But the inconvenience to travellers is understandable. The rise in the number of imported cases involving those returning from overseas makes for grim reading.

Hence, the health authorities’ call to students travelling back from the United States, Britain, Australia and the Philippines to practise self-quarantine for seven days is to be commended.

As the total number of cases climbed to more than 120 in Malaysia, it’s high time those returning home limit their contact with others as a precautionary measure.

Both the Malaysian Students Department (MSD) in London and the United Kingdom & Eire Council (Ukec) for Malaysian Students have issued travel advisories for students to take the necessary precautions before travelling home.

As Ukec chairman Amir Fareed Abdul Rahim aptly puts it: “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

He estimated that at least 2,000 out of the 11,000 Malaysian students in Britain had started returning to Malaysia for their summer holidays over the last two weeks.

“We expect the trend to continue until the first week of July,” he said, adding many of them usually travelled to Europe before heading home.

He said those returning might be unwittingly carrying the virus either through their travels in Europe or having come in contact with an infected person.

Whatever the scenario, he said that they don’t want to be caught in a situation where they could be guilty of helping to spread the virus in Malaysia.

“Our advice is that you must make sure you’re in good health before catching the flight home.

“Should you have high fever and flu-like symptoms, go to the nearest NHS for a full check-up,” he said, adding that he took a friend to University College London Hospital last weekend when she felt unwell.

Amir said his friend was screened and found to be suffering from a normal flu.

More importantly, the student had attained peace of mind when she travelled home to be with her family.