rubella outbreak!!! what is a rubella anyway.

on Friday, August 3, 2007

There has been a Rubella outbreak at the place where i'm currently working. The good news is that everyone has been vacinated by the health department. The bad news is that all of us are under quarantine for 10 days starting 02/08/07.

Some of you may not have heard of Rubella or know what it is. This is what i dug up from wikipedia about the Rubella virus.

Rubella, commonly known as German measles, is a disease caused by the rubella virus. It is often mild and an attack can pass unnoticed. However, this can make the virus difficult to diagnose. The virus usually enters the body through the nose or throat. The disease can last 1-5 days. Children recover more quickly than adults. Like most viruses living along the respiratory tract, it is passed from person to person by tiny droplets in the air that are breathed out. Rubella can pose a serious risk as it can also be transmitted from a mother to her developing baby through the bloodstream via the placenta. If the mother is infected within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, the child may be born with congenital rubella syndrome, which includes a range of birth defects. The virus has an incubation period of 2 to 3 weeks during which it becomes established.

What comes to my surprise is, for as of my knowledge Rubella in Malaysia is simply an ancient disease for there was vaccination program done to school children from the 1980's till the late 90's. How did it ever became an outbreak in Sarawak is just mind boggling. FYI i'm working in Sarawak, Malaysia in a town called Sibu.

Another thing that caught me by surprise is that a statement from a high ranking official in the health ministry when they came for the vacination program is that there are other outbreak as well but it was not publish in the news for orders from a politician that said news of the outbreak should be keep mum for fearing of revenues generated by the tourisim industry will be effected thus reducing the cash that are flowing to the state goverment coffers. I have been working in Sibu for about 2 years and from what i can gather, this state in Malaysia is full of corrupted politics. From the lowest of jobs till the higher ups of the state government.

When the price of sugar was fixed by the federal goverment due to a sugar shortage the nation was suffering traders in Sibu simply hoard the sugar supply and sell them to certain parties only and when the do sell it to the public it was price riddiculusly. There was no action from the relevant authorities for their mouth was shut by the gangs that control Sibu.

Another item that caught my attention was Malaysians from the Peninsular are required to have working permits in order to work in Sarawak. This is just too absurd. People from Peninsular Malaysia who are recognised as Malaysian have to apply for permits just to work in a state that is inside Malaysia. I pity the soldiers from the Peninsular that gambled with live to free this state from insurgents i the 1960's till 1990 that are now retired and fancy to spend the rest of their lives in Sarawak but are required to have a work permit just to stay in this state that they risk to free.

Sarawak is a beautiful state but the people who run it are ugly, filthy pigs that should be hang and displayed to others as a warning to others so as to take the responsibility that the people have given by choosing them as their leader. The people make a leader, the people can break a leader.

I'm of to bed. My fever is getting higher. Just hope that something good is coming my way.

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