Posted on April 17, 2011, Sunday

SANDAKAN: Public or private health centres should play their role in detecting and controlling any initial spread of malaria and tuberculosis.

“As they are a public health problem, early detection becomes a priority in treating the diseases,” said Libaran member of parliament Datuk Juslie Ajirol when officiating at the Sandakan-level World Tuberculosis Day and Malaria Day celebration at Taman Cahaya, Mile 12, yesterday.

He said statistics showed that each year around the world, nine million people were infected with TB virus while two million had died from contracting the disease.

Juslie said TB cases in Malaysia were usually detected late or on a serious level as people prefer to seek traditional treatment rather than the effective modern medicine.

He said general and private medical centres play a vital role as their efforts coincide with the theme “Mobile to prevent Tuberculosis … Transformation towards the Elimination” in which it is important to educate the community on the disease.

“It is sad to hear that there are still individuals seeking medical advice from a traditional medical practitioner over symptoms such as blood coughing, weight loss and loss of appetite.

“It is important for patients with the symptoms to undergo proper diagnosis and treatment,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said malaria is a disease caused by the “plasmodium” parasite that spreads through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito parasites (sporozoites).

“This disease can lead to complications such as liver and kidney dysfunctional and destroy red blood cells,” he said.

Juslie said malaria is a disease that can be prevented, treated and controlled with the increasing use of mosquito nets and other proven interventions as a part of the integrated community-based programmes.

SAN DIEGO — A grand opening celebration was held Thursday as Rady Children’s Hospital opened the doors of its Autism Discovery Institute to the media.The $1 million, nearly 12,000-square foot facility is home to a state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment Center, five classrooms, a sensory motor gym and several viewing rooms where parents can watch their children through a one way mirror. The facility is designed to handle 90 children on an out-patient basis.”We’ve expanded our services so we can serve more families of children with autism. We have inclusion programs so that children with autism can learn to socially interact with their peers. We’re hoping to be a place where families can come as early as they have a concern,” said Aubyn Stahmerl, a research coordinator with the program.The institute will be home to a unique program that mixes children with autism with kids who don’t have developmental disorders.The institute is one of only three facilities in the United States and the only one in California.Niamul Khan has two daughters in the program and he said he’s pleased with their progress.”Both of us work and we don’t have time to give to our daughters. Also in the school environment, they’re getting the other kids so it’s good for socialization,” Khan said.Autism is on the rise across the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last year, one in 110 children were diagnosed with autism, a significant increase over previous years where the rate was one in 150.According to the CDC, children with autism handle information in their brain differently than most people, and have symptoms that vary in both nature and severity.The CDC says parents can detect possible autism in their children if they do not respond to their name by the time they are one year old, don’t point at objects to display interest by the time they are 14 months, and not play pretend games by the time they are 18 months old.Other symptoms include avoiding eye contact, wanting to be alone, having delayed speech and language skills, have obsessive interests or give answers unrelated to questions.A reliable diagnosis of autism can be made when a child is 2 years old, according to the CDC.The agency says about one in 110 children are afflicted with what they call Autism Spectrum Disorder, which includes autism, Asberger Syndrome — which does not affect intellectual development, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder — who meet some, but not all, of the criteria for the other conditions. The number of affected children is growing, according to the CDC.