The three-month-old infant from Tuaran, Sabah who contracted polio was under-immunised with polio vaccine and was thus not protected, says consultant paediatrician and clinical immunologist Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin. According to the Malaysian National Immunisation Schedule, infants are to receive the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) at ages two months, three months and five months.…
The Health Ministry is looking out for symptoms of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP), which shares the features of poliomyelitis, at the surrounding areas of the three-month-old boy’s house in Tuaran, Sabah, who was infected with polio, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad. The Health Minister said that to contain the spread of the infection, the…
THERE is a three-month old infant with a diagnosis of polio in the Intensive Care Unit of Hospital Tuaran in Sabah. This is the first native case in Malaysia since 1986. There are two issues that require systemic solutions – one, we need to raise our vaccination rates in the face of vaccine hesitancy, and…
YABhg Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Hj Mohd Ali today urged Malaysian families to protect their most vulnerable members – young children and ageing parents – from the dangers of influenza (the flu) by getting them vaccinated against the disease. She was speaking at the launch of the ‘Flu Prevention is an Act of Love’ campaign organised…
The introduction of technology in schools is possibly the biggest change that the global education system has gone through in the last decade. With children now having access to technology both at home and in school, are they overexposed and are there repercussions? Louis Lai Sheng Ren, a psychologist at International Psychology Centre says, “The…
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), worldwide obesity has tripled from 1975 to 2016. The scarier fact is that as of 2016, 41 million children under the age of five and 340 million children between the ages of five and 19 were reported to be overweight or obese. Malaysia has a lot to worry…
There is a need for parents and caregivers to recognise the changes in the growth patterns of children since they are an important indicator of overall health and well-being, Deputy Health Minister, Dr Lee Boon Chye, said today. He said they will need to work with healthcare professionals to ensure children affected by growth disorders…
Parents can now measure, record and track their child’s growth patterns directly from their smartphones On 27th November 2019, Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA) in collaboration with Novo Nordisk Pharma (M) Sdn. Bhd. (Novo Nordisk) launched the Growth Journey™ app, an innovative growth tracking digital solution that places parents at the heart of their children’s…
I READ with concern the statement by Deputy Prime Minister and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail that seven states in Malaysia have refused to amend state enactments that would raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for Muslim girls. It is hoped that the government’s…
Congratulations from the Malaysian Paediatric Association to Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Sham Kasim!