Asthma, conjunctivitis cases continue to rise as a result of haze in Malaysia
A volunteer hands over face masks to members of the public in Kuala Lumpur. (Bernama pic). Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 23, 2019, FMT. The number of asthma cases saw an increase of 3.5% to 1,265 cases for the week from Sept 15 to Sept 21 compared to 1,222 cases in the previous week, due to the haze blanketing most parts of the country, reported the Free Malaysia Today.
Health ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said conjunctivitis cases also rose 51.4% to 403 cases, compared to 266 the week before.
“However, cases involving upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) showed a decline of 9.6% (7,465 compared to 8,258 previously),” he said in a statement today.
He said the ministry is monitoring health complaints related to the haze through its 33 haze sentinel facilities across the country.
Noor Hisham advised the public, especially those in the high risk groups such as the elderly and children and those with respiratory related ailments such as asthma, bronchitis and allergies, to take preventive measures to limit the effects of the haze.
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