Health Ministry reminds people to be alert in festive season hot weather

SHAH ALAM - The Health Ministry has reminded the public to remain alert duting the current spate of festive season hot weather.

It's Director-General Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan said the monitoring carried out by the ministry until April, 28 found five cases of weather-related deaths reported.

"Three cases were reported in Sarawak, involving two cases of heat cramps and one case of heat exhaustion. Two more cases were reported in Kelantan, involving one case of heat exhaustion and one case of heat stroke which caused death.

"Referring to a report in the media on April, 27 regarding two deaths due to heat stroke in Kelantan, preliminary investigations by the Kelantan State Health Department found that the cause of death of an 11-year-old child was due to heat stroke with severe dehydration.

"While the death of the 19-month-old baby was caused by severe dehydration with sepsis and not due to heat stroke," he said in a statement on Friday.

Therefore, Muhammad Radzi urged the public to take preventive measures on any health issues that may occur.

"Plan festive activities and avoid the peak time of hot weather between 11am and 4pm also drink plenty of plain water even if you don't feel thirsty, at least eight glasses a day to maintain hydration levels to regulate body temperature.

"Reduce drinking sugary, caffeinated and carbonated water because it is not good for hydration and at the same time limit the time spent outside the building to avoid exposure to hot weather," he added.

The public can get the latest hot weather updates on the MetMalaysia website and preventive measures to reduce the health effects of hot weather on the Hea