On May 9th a Malaysian man died and 12 others were in serious condition following an outbreak of bacterial meningitis at a training camp in the southern state of Malacca.
The outbreak is in Tiang Dua, the blue dot on the map which is still far away from Malacca site so tourists don’t have to worry, except when of course meningitis carriers from Tiang Dua start traveling to Malacca.
Meanwhile about 500 people have been quarantined and 20 are hospitalized. The Malaysian government keeps on top of the disease that is deadly and unpleasant to say the least.
Having had meningitis myself when I was a kid, I still remember when a needle got poked in my spine whilst 2 nurses grabbed my arms in order to make sure I didn’t resist. You can read more about Meningitis at Wikipedia.
What’s sad however is that children in a nearby school from where the outbreak started where told not to wear masks, “so no newspapers would cover the case in a too sensational way”.
I can assure you there is nothing more scary than:
- first getting face masks distributed in order to protect you and
- 2 days later sensationally hearing the government saying that face masks are not to be worn when the meningitis cases are still on the rise and quarantines are extended a few more days.
Would the government do the same when their kids would attend the same school? It’s sad that people’s health and life still are not as important as “how Malaysia will be portrayed”.
Tourists to Malaysia do read the Internet and make intelligent decisions based on what is said and what is not said.
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