Kuala Lumpur Travel Forum

Am I worrying about nothing?
MY 17 year old daughter has what seems a life time opportunity. 3 weeks in Kuala Lumpur with a friend, plus two relatives. My main concern is the expected "slash and burn" haze which according to my research will be in full swing in August. She has asthma, very bad hayfever and is seeing a specialist at the end of the month. (a few days before she is due to go.) I am naturally concerned at what may happen if KL should be affected by the haze. Opinions please, am I worrying uneccessarily?

The air in KL isn't bad, although the heat and humidity aggravate everything relating to it. It is a lot clearer there than in Bangkok, for example. The allergies ought not to be a special problem.

hello there. 1stly, I understand your concern as a mother, on your daughter's wellbeing. Based on the literature out there and personal experience of walking around in kl, the KL haze during august is not as bad as it is thought to be. many other asian cities are having the same problem that time of year, though kl maybe less. In my personal view, there shouldnt be any serious health problem. but she can take precautions eg drinking a lot of water (heat&humidity factor), and have her medications with her at all times. its also good to have her family doctor(GP)prescribe her any anticipatory drug alongside her usual medicine (just in case ie antihistamines inhalers etc).
A friend from ireland with a bad asthma came to malaysia a few years ago, although took her a day or so to acclimatize, she did very well in our weather.
Plus, KL is a big city, with a lot of public n private healthcare available and accessible by many. i would be more worried if she's in the more rural area of malaysia. there are many walk-in clinics, and quite a lot in kl, 24hr ones avaiable should she find herself in trouble.
and KL has a lot of airconditioned buildings.Malls, hotels, restaurant, so many that one can go about in kl without even exposed to the hot humid air.
wow, im rambling too much. in short, ure not worrying unnecessarily. its a justifiable concern. like any mother would. Im sure she'll do fine. she will do great.
hope this helps.
cheers

Many thanks to you both. It has made me feel better to some degree. Presently she has been put back again on Prednisolone steroids. The research I have done I supppose is what is frightening. 40,000 hospitalised in 2006, and this year due to El Nino affect last year the predictions are it isn't going to be good. Neither of us as parents has passports so if anything went wrong we would not be able to get out there even if we had the money. I really want her to have a good time with her friend and the family, and pictures of locals wearing masks and oxygen tanks doesn't do much for the confidence:-)

Not sure if this will allay your concerns a bit, but lately the air quality has been much better than normal, with no haze in sight (perhaps due to the daily rain). That being said the bad news is that the situation can change within a short period.

Should the haze hit when your daughter is around, most malls are fully air-conditioned so she can get some respite by going shopping!

I am sure she will love that. Being a typical 17 year old "Retail Therapy" or any excuse to do some is always an option in her eyes:-)

hahaha "retail therapy". Oh, Im now 100% sure she is going to enjoy KL. Its a shopping paradise. hands down.

Dear Very Concerned

To a large extent it depends on where you are actually located (what you are used to). I am mildly asthmatic and have been to kuala lumpur and have never had any attacks. My sister, on the other had has average asthma and is allergic to dust and mites and have ALWAYS had attacks but she carries her inhaler with her at all times. if your daughter is that bad, get her to have plenty of asthma meds. We live in Sydney by the way, and in Sydney the air is very clean, with the ocassional smog over the Harbour Bridge.

Well she did go to Egypt with the school as part of her AS Archaology course. She told me she did struggle with the heat over there even though she enjoyed the experience. She is not sure she would go there again though. I don't know how the humidity compares Egypt-Malaysia.
I have been checking the API and noticed the air quality has gone from good to moderate. There was also talk of the Government dropping "water bombs" if the air quality got bad. That should be fun if there were to be minimal warnings:-)

ask her to drink warm water with honey ( stir the water with plastic spoon ), 3 times a day. my friend practise this for a few month, her asthma go away forever....

try...