Report Crowded Hospitals Turning Away Patients Amid Flu Outbreak

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Government and major private hospitals in the Klang Valley are turning away Influenza A patients, according to a report
According to Free Malaysia Today, the patients are being turned away despite being referred for admission after diagnosis, with many claiming to have “run out of beds”
It also quoted Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care saying that both its medical centres in Subang Jaya and Ara Damansara are not accepting patients as they are receiving more patients than normal
For the time being, patients are being treated symptomatically

“We are keeping a close watch on these cases and advising our patients that if their symptoms do not subside and get severe instead, they should come back to the hospital to get a review,” the private healthcare provider reportedly said
Free Malaysia Today also reported that Assunta Hospital and Thomson Medical Centre in Petaling Jaya had said they have run out of beds, while the Damansara Specialist Centre said they were waiting for fresh stocks of anti-influenza drugs
The Sungai Buloh Hospital, meanwhile, is reportedly still accepting patients
Previously, some healthcare facilities have reported a spike in flu cases and certain private facilities had run out of Oseltamivir – the influenza medication also known as Tamiflu
The Health Ministry said it has sufficient stocks of Oseltamivir at government facilities and said it would expedite approvals for private facilities to import more of the drug
Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah urged those in high-risk groups - namely children below the age of five, senior citizens above 65, pregnant women and those with underlying medical diseases - to seek vaccination. - Mkini

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