PETALING JAYA: The cause of over 3,000 cases of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and two related deaths in Perak over the last three weeks remains a mystery.

The patients who are mostly young children are from Batang Padang and Hilir Perak.

Perak Health Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said tests for the rotavirus which was believed to be the cause of the outbreak was negative so far.

“Tests for rotavirus on water samples taken from eight locations in Batang Padang over three days, Feb 11, 12 and 13 are negative.

“The results on water samples taken from Hilir Perak on Feb 14 are not out yet,” Dr Mah told The Star.

There were 1,990 cases of AGE in Hilir Perak and 1,078 cases in Batang Padang since three weeks ago.

To a question, Dr Mah said the negative test results could be due to the very low concentration of the virus in the water samples taken.

“Viruses are elusive and self-limiting in nature, and will dwindle over two to three weeks,” he said of the outbreak which started end of last month.

On the increase in the reported cases of AGE in the two districts, Dr Mah said this could be due to rising awareness among the people to seek medical treatment for symthoms like diarrhoea, fever and vomitting.

“AGE can be caused by different type of viruses or bacteria.

“As in the case of this outbreak, the authorities suspected that it could be rotavirus because tests on the stools of 18 of 39 patients were positive for the virus,” he explained.

Dr Mah stressed that good personal hygiene was very important to prevent AGE, irrespective of the cause or causes of the disease.

He urged parents to be vigilant and seek medical treatment for their children who were not well.

Dr Mah said identifying the cause for a sudden surge of AGE cases would enable the authorities bring an end to the outbreak fast.

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