Flu bug + haze = Double whammy

We should be concerned
Environment Minister says drier conditions and more hotspots may worsen haze
Teh Jen Lee, The New Paper 21 Jun 09;

SINGAPOREANS hoping to breathe easier could well suffer a double whammy with the dry season starting as early as next month.

This is if the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak continues, and Singapore is hit by the return of the haze.

Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim yesterday signalled 'cause for concern' because El Nino is expected to cause drier conditions than normal this year.

This in turn would make it conducive for fires, worsening the haze situation.

He said at a door-stop interview: 'Already we're beginning to see some signs. We're thankful that the wind is not blowing in our direction, but Malaysia is suffering. It's not something that's good for the region.

'Although the number of hotspots have come down (recently), we continue to monitor very closely because the dry season is coming.'

Associate Professor Philip Eng, consultant respiratory physician at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said H1N1 and the haze can interact with each other in many ways.

'If the haze is bad enough, people with asthma and even normal people may get asthma attacks and be more predisposed to the flu.

H1N1: More complications

Besides complicating diagnosis, the haze could also make H1N1 cases more serious, landing patients in intensive care or even causing death.

He was responding to The New Paper's queries on the haze and H1N1.

Dr Yaacob said there is a possibility that the haze could be as bad as in 2006.

'As you remember, 2006 was a really bad year and so was 1997/98. We can't preclude that possibility. We plan for the worse and hope for the best.'

He was speaking at the opening of the new S2S (sea to space) Building at the National University of Singapore, home to the research and operational staff of the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (Crisp) and Tropical Marine Science Institute.

Crisp also opened its new GeoEye ground station, the only station in South-east Asia which receives data from the GeoEye-1 satellite, the world's highest resolution remote-sensing satellite for civilian use.

The satellite can 'see' items that are just 50cm in size on the earth's surface.

This helps in fighting the haze because Crisp's greater capability allows for better resolution of hotspots.

Dr Yaacob said: 'As the designated centre for Asean, we share the photographs with our Indonesian and Malaysian colleagues so they know where the fires are.

'It comes down to political will about things that need to be done at the ground level. We will continue to work with Indonesia to provide the latest updates as much as possible.'

Besides providing satellite images, the National Environment Agency sends officers regularly to Jambi, Indonesia, to engage local officials. Singapore also gets real-time data from air quality monitoring stations there, said Dr Yaacob.

'If we have a network of such stations across Indonesia, especially in the fire-prone areas, we can know what's going on and the Indonesians can also move in very quickly if there's an outbreak.'

Dr Yaacob added that, according to the met service, the dry season is already here.

When asked whether haze conditions could trigger respiratory illnesses and aggravate H1N1 cases here, Dr Yaacob said: 'We do not know. We have to follow Ministry of Health guidelines in terms of how we deal with H1N1. We have to be on the lookout.'

Dr Eng, who has been in respiratory medicine for 15 years, advised those with chronic lung disease to make sure that their conditions are controlled well with medication.

They should also be up to date about haze conditions.

He said: 'Last weekend in Kuala Lumpur, the haze was bad. I had one patient there who went for a walk outside and his asthma got worse.Especially for those travelling, it's important to know how bad the pollution is.'