KOTA KINABALU, June 29 ― Malaysia recorded its third diphtheria death today after a three-year-old boy from a migrant community in Menggatal, some 20km from here, died from the preventable disease.
Sabah Health department director Dr Christina Rundi confirmed the death and said the child was not immunised.
But she also said that it was an isolated case and there was no indication of an outbreak.
“There is a death due to diphtheria, but it is not an outbreak. There are sporadic cases of diphtheria in the state,'' she said, declining to elaborate on the details on the child’s death.
The child died on Monday, after being admitted to the Sabah Women and Children’s Hospital in Likas where the child was diagnosed by paediatric specialists.
“The disease is preventable by vaccination. People have their own reasons for not vaccinating their children, it should take a case like this to drive the message home,” said Dr Rundi.
According to news reports, a seven-year-old girl died earlier this month in Malacca from diphtheria, a potentially fatal and highly contagious bacterial infection that can be prevented by immunisations, while a two-year-old boy died from the disease in Kedah. Both of them reportedly had not received complete vaccination against diphtheria.
The symptoms of diphtheria usually begin two to seven days after infection. Symptoms of diphtheria include high fever, chills, fatigue, sore throat, hoarseness, cough, headache, difficulty or painful swallowing, difficulty breathing, rapid breathing and foul-smelling bloodstained nasal discharge.
A vaccine against diphtheria is administered when the child is at two, three and four months. A booster dose is also administered on the 18th month.
The anti-vaccine movement recently entered the spotlight after Ammar Wan Harun, a former contestant of the local Imam Muda reality TV series, mocked vaccinations on his Facebook page.
Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin later said that Muslims who refused to vaccinate their children were going against the teachings of Islam.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also reminded parents on the importance of immunisation and told people not to circulate rumours about vaccination by citing religion.
Some Muslim Malaysians reject vaccinations for fear that they contain pig DNA. National newswire Bernama reported Kelantan Mufti Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad as saying last month, however, that vaccinations are allowed in Islam even though they may contain “haram” substances.
