A worrying story from the pages of Sinar Harian – a one-year old baby was recently diagnosed with a lung and blood infection after doctors believe he could have caught it inhaling inordinate amounts of secondhand smoke in a public area.
More alarming is that the parents of baby Muhammad Nazeem Haqeel Shahrol Nizam are not smokers themselves.
They believe that he was exposed to the toxic fumed when the family dined at stall near Jalan Kluang, where customers were intensely smoking around the family as they dined.
The baby’s mother, Sayang Nadzirah Salleh, told reporters that after taking her son to Pantai Hospital with a high fever, doctors told her that he was moments away from experiencing seizures. He needed his lungs aspirated, and round-the-clock medication. He was subsequently admitted for six days before being released in good health.
Sayang Nadzirah is hoping that with public attention on the matter, other parents will be more aware of the dangers of secondhand smoke, as she herself will no longer be taking her baby to such air polluted areas.
Word. Is it time yet for Kuala Lumpur to join the ranks of London, New York, Paris and uh… Singapore and take our smoking away from poor little baby lungs?
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