H1N1 - Curing is better than Prevention?

The situation with the outbreak of A(H1N1) virus in Malaysia is getting from bad to worse. It is reported in The Star today (21 June 09) that "An 11-year-old girl from a Chinese vernacular school in Kuala Lumpur is among seven new confirmed Influenza A (H1N1) cases, bringing the total number to 42."

The SJKC Jalan Davidson became the first school in Malaysia to be closed after it was found that she had transmitted the virus to two classmates.

Other than Malaysia several Asian countries have ordered mass school closures, some in the thousands, to stem outbreaks of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus.

The Hong Kong government has closed all primary, kindergarten, nursery and special schools since last week after the Chinese territory recorded its first case of the virus.

Japan has closed 4,466 schools in six prefectures, mostly primary schools, kindergartens, junior, according to its Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Thailand has authorised schools to suspend classes if necessary, without seeking the Education Ministry’s permission, according to a Thai news agency which quoted Thailand’s Education Minister Jurin Laksanavisit.

The Philippines, which has suspended classes in 11 schools and universities after detecting one case in each, told school authorities to report any influenza-like illnesses among their students, especially those who have recently travelled to affected countries.

It all began in Mexico and has now reached a pandemic level according to WHO (World Health Organisation).

Little did we know that about 1,400 years ago, we had been informed by a great man how to handle the problem if there was an epidemic in a certain area or country. He said that to prevent the disease from spreading, no person should leave that country and no person is allowed to go into that country. That great man was none other than Prophet Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him) himself.

It was related that Usama ibn Zaid said that the Messenger of God (prayers and peace be upon him) said, " The plaque is a punishment, some nations before you were punished by it. Then it remained on earth, and it returns from time to time. Whoever hears of it in a land, he should not go there, and if it occurs in the land where he is, he should not flee from it." (Al-Muslim)

Thus, if we know that countries like Mexico, US and Australia are plaqued with the virus, we should not allow anyone from any of these countres to come into Malaysia. Likewise, we should also not allow anyone from Malaysia to go to any of these countries, until the disease has gone.

No doubt if we take this action, someone will say, "Oh, but they are Malaysians who must return to their families in Malaysia." Or even say,"We can't do that, it will badly affect our airline business."

Since a cure for the flu has not been found yet, it won't surprise me to hear next that a patient has succumb to the disease.

We talk about "prevention is better than cure". We talk about preventing getting a disease is better than trying to cure the disease. Yet, we are not preventing, but allowing the disease to come in. So instead of prevention is better than cure, it becomes curing is better than prevention. To make matters worst, we have not found the cure for it yet.

Let's pray and hope that the quarantine process for those already infected with the flu really works and that the disease can be safely contained from spreading. At the same time, it is still not too late to prevent people from infected countries to come into Malaysia. Better to sacrifice a bit of inconvenience to implement this preventive measure than to finally find that we are losing precious human lives instead.