1MS ISO 9001:2008 ( AR 4182 )

2MS ISO 9001:2008 ( AR 4182 )

DR. PARAM JEETH SINGHPEGAWAI KESIHATAN

PEJABAT KESIHATAN PELABUHAN KLANG

PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSES TO

PANDEMIC H1N1 2009 IN PORT KLANG

INTRODUCTION

It was noted that the spread of

Influenza A (H1N1) cases from the countries

that had local transmission to other parts of

the world involved international travel

either via seaport, airport or ground

crossings.

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On 25th April 2009, WHO declared Influenza

A (H1N1) outbreak in the USA and Mexico as

Public Health Emergency Of International

Concern (PHEIC). Point Of Entry (POE)Port Klang

executed the National Influenza Pandemic

Preparedness Plan (NIPPP) in view of the PHEIC

on 1st May 2009.

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Port Klang implemented the

containment strategy of the NIPPP with the aim

to prevent the introduction of the virus into the

country.

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Passengers and crews of ships that came from

affected countries were subjected to various

public health measures such as :

i. Screening of temperature

ii.Mandatory filling up of the health declarationforms prior to entry into the port

iii.Quarantine of passengers and crews with ILIsymptoms and their contacts in their cabins tillthey reach the port and examined by healthstaff.

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iv. Hospitalization of suspected cases whofulfilled the screening criteria.

v. All passengers and crews from affectedcountries were also given health alert cards.

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METHODOLOGYA retrospective study was done of all the public

health responses in Port Klang from May 2009 to

October 2009. During the six months period, a

total of 264 passenger ships with 14,550

passengers and 2,851 conventional ships with

23,206 crews were screened for temperature

from the affected countries. A total of 37,756

health declaration forms and 150,535 health

alert cards were also given out during the period.8

DISCUSSION

Eleven throat swabs were taken from persons

who fulfilled the screening criteria and there

were two cases of laboratory confirmed Influenza

A (H1N1) from POE Port Klang.

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The first case was confirmed on 19th June 2009

and second case on 3rd July 2009. Due to the

aggressive containment measures deployed atPOE Port Klang, the first imported case into the

country via Port Klang was delayed to 19th

June 2009 after the first outbreak occurred in

Mexico and USA on 25th April 2009.

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Even though MOH did managed to successfully

delayed the spread of the virus into the country,

there are also lessons to be learned from the

pandemic.1) Review the current NIPPP demarking the transition from containment to

mitigation phasesi. Economic factor ; more ships had to be quarantine

for screening as compared to other countries.ii. To be based on local situation rather than

geographical distribution

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2) To apply exit controls rather then entrycontrols Prevent wastages in terms of manpower, health

declaration forms and health alert cards

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CONCLUSION Due to the public health responses applied

during the containment phase,Port Klang

managed to delay the importation of Influenza A

(H1N1) cases into the country and slowed down

the spread into the community.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Disease Control Division

Ministry Of Health Malaysia

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