Two dead, two critically injured as car plunges from third floor of mall (BERNAMA)

KOTA BARU (Dec 6, 2009) -- Two students from Masterskill College of Nursing and Health here were killed while another two were seriously injured when a car plunged from the parking area of KB Mall here at 5.40pm today.

Kota Baru district police chief ACP Zahruddin Abdullah said the dead were Siti Nor Amira Samsuddin, 19 and Siti Nor Diana Azman, 18 while Rashidah Ahmad Lutfi, 24 and the driver of the car, Nor Ain Said, 19 suffered serious injuries.

"The incident happened at about 5pm when the Ford Laser TX3 car driven by Nor Ain lost control and plunged while being pushed after it had broken down on the third floor of the parking area.

"The ill-fated car landed near the escalator of the KB Mall," he told reporters at the scene.

He said Siti Nor Amira from Felda Chiku Tujuh, Gua Musang died at the spot while Siti Nor Diana from Chabang Empat, Tumpat died on the way to the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital here.

He added that Rashidah from Jerteh, Terengganu and Nor Ain from Kampung Chekeli, Dewan Beta here were being treated at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital and that their condition was critical.

Zahruddin said during the incident, apart from the driver Nor Ain, the other three victims who were on the ground floor, were crushed by the plunging car.

He added that the car had initially broken down on the third floor before Nor Ain, her sister Nurul Afika, 17 and their friend Sabri, 27, from Besut, Terengganu, decided to push the car.

"Nor Ain and her sister were in the car while Sabri was pushing the car when the driver lost control and the car hit the retaining wall and plunged down," he said.

He added that Nurul Afika miraculously escaped unhurt and went home in trauma after the incident while Sabri disappeared from the scene.

A witness, Johan Salleh, 47, said he was on the ground floor and saw the car plunging down.

"I was able to drag my son away but he remains in trauma," said Johan.

Police and the Fire and Rescue Department were at the scene to extricate the bodies.-- BERNAMA

Flood Situation Improves In Terengganu And Pahang (BERNAMA)

KUALA TERENGGANU, Dec 7 (Bernama) -- The flood situation in Terengganu and Pahang continued to improve as the number of evacuees at flood relief centres drop substantially from Sunday night.

The number of flood victims remaining at relief centres in Terengganu dropped from 400 last night to 138 this morning while Pahang also saw a drop from 951 Sunday night to 517 Monday morning.

A spokesman of the National Security Council (NSC) for Terengganu said the floodwaters had completely receded in some districts except in Kemaman and Kuala Terengganu where 74 and 64 flood victims remained at relief centres.

All main roads including Jalan Kuala Terengganu-Kuantan and Jalan Kuala Terengganu-Kota Baharu was opened for traffic while water level at all main rivers in Terengganu fell below the danger level.

Meanwhile, a spokesman from the Pahang State Flood Operations Control Centre said 386 flood victims remained at flood relief centres in Kuantan and another 131 in Bera.

Victims in Kuantan are housed at flood relief centres in Kampung Pahang Community Hall, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Paya Besar, Dewan Orang Ramai Kampung Semangat, Sekolah Kebangsaan Pandan, Kampung Soi Community Hall, Sekolah Menengah Gudang Rasau, Dewan Orang Ramai Sri Damai and Kampung Sri Melati surau.

In Bera, there was no change in the situation from last night as 131 flood victims, comprising 30 families from Kampung Paya Tateh, remained at the Rakan Muda Complex in Kerayong.

-- BERNAMA

Malaysians urged to be wary of second H1N1 outbreak

PENANG:Malaysians are advised to be alert for a possible second wave of the H1N1 influenza outbreak.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai raised this concern as the northern hemisphere had recorded a 95% jump in cases.

More to come

--- THE STAR

Aussie Minister Advises Families To Receive A/H1N1 Flu Vaccination

CANBERRA, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon on Thursday urged Australians to shed their complacent attitude and make sure their families are vaccinated against A/ H1N1 flu, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

As the vaccine became available for children as young as six months on Thursday, Roxon said high A/H1N1 infection rates in North America were concerning.

"We are in a global battle against this pandemic," Roxon told reporters.

She advised all families to be vaccinated before the new school year, but preferably before Christmas.

Roxon said the A/H1N1 flu season that struck overseas this year was earlier than expected and could well be the same in Australia.

While the vaccine has been available for months, only 5 million doses have been administered from the stock of 21 million doses.

"We're always worried that when protection is available that they take advantage of it, that they not be too laidback in an Australian way to protect themselves against something that could be a big risk in the future," Roxon said.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration approved Panvax Junior for young children on Thursday. The A/H1N1 flu vaccine will be free for all children between 6 months and 9 years within two weeks.

The urgent message to vaccinate children ahead of this flu season comes after health statistics in Canada and the United States revealed worrying trends.

Children under nine years will need two doses for the vaccine to work fully. The first dose provides good protection, and the second dose taken 28 days later will boost the initial shot.

-- BERNAMA

Tuberculosis (TB) - http://www.cdc.gov/

Basic TB Facts

On this Page

"TB" is short for tuberculosis. TB disease is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal.

How TB Spreads

TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with active TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected.

TB is NOT spread by

• shaking someone’s hand
• sharing food or drink
• touching bed linens or toilet seats
• sharing toothbrushes
• kissing

Latent TB Infection and TB Disease

Not everyone infected with TB bacteria becomes sick. As a result, two TB-related conditions exist: latent TB infection and active TB disease.

• Latent TB Infection

  TB bacteria can live in your body without making you sick. This is called latent TB infection (LTBI). In most people who breathe in TB bacteria and become infected, the body is able to fight the bacteria to stop them from growing. People with latent TB infection do not feel sick and do not have any symptoms. The only sign of TB infection is a positive reaction to the tuberculin skin test or special TB blood test. People with latent TB infection are not infectious and cannot spread TB bacteria to others. However, if TB bacteria become active in the body and multiply, the person will get sick with TB disease.

• TB Disease

  TB bacteria become active if the immune system can't stop them from growing. When TB bacteria are active (multiplying in your body), this is called TB disease. TB disease will make you sick. People with TB disease may spread the bacteria to people they spend time with every day. Many people who have latent TB infection never develop TB disease. Some people develop TB disease soon after becoming infected (within weeks) before their immune system can fight the TB bacteria. Other people may get sick years later, when their immune system becomes weak for another reason.
  For persons whose immune systems are weak, especially those with HIV infection, the risk of developing TB disease is much higher than for persons with normal immune systems.

The Difference between Latent TB Infection and TB Disease

A Person with Latent TB Infection	A Person with TB Disease
• Has no symptoms	• Has symptoms that may include: - a bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer - pain in the chest - coughing up blood or sputum - weakness or fatigue - weight loss - no appetite - chills - fever - sweating at night
• Does not feel sick	• Usually feels sick
• Cannot spread TB bacteria to others	• May spread TB bacteria to others
• Usually has a skin test or blood test result indicating TB infection	• Usually has a skin test or blood test result indicating TB infection
• Has a normal chest x-ray and a negative sputum smear	• May have an abnormal chest x-ray, or positive sputum smear or culture
• Needs treatment for latent TB infection to prevent active TB disease	• Needs treatment to treat active TB disease

73 H1N1 Cases With Five Deaths During This Year's Haj Season

MECCA, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- There were only 73 Influenza A(H1N1) cases with five deaths recorded out of nearly 2.5 million pilgrims who performed the Haj this year.

Health Minister Abdullah Al-Rabeeah was quoted as saying this by Saudi Arabian English daily Arab News.

The newspaper also quoted the Civil Defence director-general, Gen. Saad bin Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri, as saying that there was a big drop in the number of accidents this Haj season compared to previous years.

"The huge drop is mainly attributed to the completion of the five-storey Jamrat Bridge and the expansion of the Arafah area by more than 30 per cent," he said.

Al-Tuwaijri said these projects had further boosted the capability of the Civil Defence agency and other government bodies in carrying out their tasks efficiently.

"It also enabled the pilgrims to perform the Haj rites in ease and comfort," he added.

-- BERNAMA

KPJ Penang Specialist: Caring For Your Heart (BERNAMA)

By Lizawati Bahanan

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- KPJ Penang Specialist hospital is set to emerge as the leading specialist centre especially in the Seberang Perai and southern Kedah districts.

KPJ Penang's General Manager for Risk Management Service Abdol Wahab Baba notes that the hospital under the Johor Corporation will be concentrating on treatment for heart ailments.

"Actually the heart care service was planned for the second phase but due to the overwhelming demand KPJ has introduced the service in the first phase itself.

"As the facilities for heart care in the Seberang Perai district is still lacking compared with the one available on the island, KPJ has taken the opportunity to provide this facility," he told Bernama.

Abdul Wahab adds that at present only the operating theater is yet to be equipped and for this purpose they are looking for investors and competent surgeons.

MULTI DISCIPLINE CARE

"Treatment for heart aliments is already available except for heart by-pass, maybe we will be able to introduce this next year," he says.

Other than this KPJ Penang Specialist offers other disciplines like anaesthesiology, ENT surgery, gastroenterology and general surgery.

The other disciplines are internal medicine, nephrology, obstetrics & gynaecology, ophthalmology, orthopaedic, (paediatrics), rheumatology, radiology and urology.

"The hospital is the 19th opened by KPJ to provide specialist care for the people living in this area.

SPECIALIST CLINIC

"With our presence here the public no longer need to go to the island to seek treatment," he said.

The hospital located in Bandar Perda started operations on August 1 this year with the first phase completed in 2008 and the second phase is to be developed in the future.

The KPJ Penang Hospital building has a floor space of 200,000 square feet and the five story building costs RM45 million.

As for a start KPJ Penang only provides 88 beds and 25 consultation clinics, but if there is demand KPJ will increase the bed to 112 in the future.

"Under the second phase KPJ Penang plans to add another 100 beds and when fully completed the hospital will have 236 beds and 40 specialist clinics.

THE STATE OF THE ART EQUIPMENT

"Other than having highly experienced medical experts, KPJ Penang is also equipped with the state of the art equipment like the 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 64-Slice Computer Tomography (CT) Scanner and the Catheterisation Lab," he said.

He says that KPJ Penang has invested RM25 million for the purchase of the latest equipment in providing healthcare services to customers.

As up to October 2009, there were 224 employees in KPJ Penang with 110 of them being nursing staff and another 114 in the allied health and support services, he said.

"KPJ Penang also has 20 full time specialist consultants and expects the number to increase with time," he says.

Abdol Wahab points that under the five year plan KPJ anticipates accumulated revenue of RM471 million with a pre tax profit of RM11 million.

OTHER FACILITIES

"Next year KPJ plans to increase the number of beds and other facilities like heart operating theater, urology and dialysis," he said.

In 2008 KPJ hospitals received 1.96 million outpatients and 196,291 inpatients.

As for the half year beginning Sept 30, KPJ reported a revenue of RM709.52 million compared with RM615.07 million for the same period in 2008.

KPJ listed in Bursa Malaysia recorded a pre tax profit of RM76.47 million for the half year ending on Sept 30 compared with RM60.29 million for the same period last year.

-- BERNAMA