Sabah – News Flash

Possibility of Zika Virus a Local Strain – Health DG

Director general of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that the zika cases in Sarawak and Sabah are believed to be different from that in Singapore and identified as a Micronesian Asian linkage.  Since there was no documentation found on this strain, there is a possibility that it is a local strain.  He added that dengue is a more serious case, causing five deaths in the past week.  But since the vector for dengue and zika are the same, he advised people to use insect repellents and wear light-colored clothing that hides majority of the skin.  Furthermore, there is still no confirmation that the zika virus causes microcephaly in babies, that is, babies with small heads.

Liver Transplants from Living Donors

Krishnan Raman, head and consultant of the Department of Hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) Services at Selayang Hospital in Selangor, was at the National Gastrointestinal Assistants (GIA) Conference and in an interview, announced that the hospital will be conducting liver transplants using living donors probably late this year or early next year.  This was because previous liver transplants were made possible through donations from those who are already brain dead.  Thus, a limited number of donors.

In the case of living donors, the procedure involves taking a portion of the liver and transplanting it to the patient.  Success rate of this procedure is expected to be slightly higher because it will be done in a controlled operation and donors are usually young and healthy.  Other countries are already performing this operation because of the same reason – limited donors.

HPB specializes in liver, pancreas and bile ducts diseases.  In another development in this field, the Endoscopy Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital recently purchased two units of the latest SpyGlass equipment that provides a 3D image for access into the bile duct and tissue removal for biopsy purposes.

2^nd MYWriters Fest this October

The Malaysian Writers Society (MWS) will be holding its MYWriters Fest 2016 during the whole month of October as the society is celebrating its second anniversary.  This was announced by Gina Yap Lai Yoong, the society’s president and fest organizer.  Starting October 1, various activities will be conducted at selected venues in the country.  There will be book launches, meet-and-greet sessions with local authors and workshops on publishing and writing.  A Poets Day is already scheduled and on the fest finale, more than RM1,000 worth of books will be given.  These activities are aimed at creating and increasing awareness for the writing in the country.  Interested parties may access the full list of events at the MWS’ Facebook account facebook.com/malaysianwriterssociety.

Yap is also encouraging local authors to participate in the festival, especially in the meet-and-greet sessions, with a minimal fee.  Aside from a chance to sell their books, the writers will have the chance to interact with their readers and know their preferences.  So far, there are about 40 authors who have signed up to join the events.

As for the training and workshop sessions, these will cover the usual topics on how to write but will also touch on copyrights, publishing contracts and the conduct of public reading in Malaysia.  Aspiring local writers are encouraged to attend, with a minimal fee.