Published: Friday February 24, 2012 MYT 6:26:00 PM

No plan yet for rotavirus vaccination: Liow

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has no plan to introduce vaccination for the rotavirus which causes acute gastroenteritis (AGE), Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said.

Nevertheless, he said, he has directed the ministry's director-general, Datuk Seri Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman, to conduct a study on the vaccination programme.

"We need to see whether there is a need to introduce it," he told reporters.

Liow was asked whether there is a plan to introduce vaccination for rotavirus in government hospitals following the AGE outbreak in Perak recently.

The outbreak in late January has infected over 3,000 children and caused two deaths so far. It was reported that there are two types of rotavirus vaccine in the market here.

Liow said there are 11 types of vaccination programmes available for children in Malaysia.

"We need to prioritise on what vaccination programme to be introduced," he added.

On the case of 67 students at SM Sains Muzaffar Syah boarding school in Malacca quarantined for influenza-like illness (ILI), he said the ministry is still monitoring the situation.

He said the students were found to have mild ILI symptoms and immediate precautionary measures have been taken to contain it. BERNAMA

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