Do not worry about sending children to school over H1N1 - Melaka Exco

Parents of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Pay Teck pupils here need not worry about sending their children to the school as there are no reports of influenza A or H1N1 virus found among students.

Melaka Education, Higher Education, Science and Technology, Green Technology and Innovation Executive Committee chairman Datuk Md Yunos Husin said the state government through its related agencies was monitoring the health of students in the school closely.

He said only 102 of 390 school pupils turned up for class today and this could be due to the parents' concern about the health of their children and not being aware that school session was going on as usual.

"The situation is under control and there are no reports of other students showing similar symptoms or are down with any infectious diseases," he told reporters after visiting the school here today.

He said health monitoring and screening would be conducted on pupils in the school in the next few days as a continuous measure to stop the spread of infectious diseases.

In this regard, Md Yunos said the Melaka Tengah District Education Office and the school would inform parents of school children through telephone on the latest development.

"Classes are important and we do not want pupils to be left behind as the situation is under control and there is no reason for the school session to be suspended for the time being," he said.

Yesterday, it was reported in the media that the year five pupil of the school died on Tuesday morning after suspected of contracting H1N1 virus.

The boy was treated at a private hospital here before being warded for high fever on Friday and he fell into a coma before he was pronounced dead.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam yesterday announced the actual cause of death of the 10-year-old boy could not be confirmed as the victim was infected with H1N1 and encephalitis at the same time.