BEetle Link....Gifts Catalogue

* BEetle Link is an appreciation programme for your voluntary participation in clinical research.
* This programme commences from 1st January 2008.
* Volunteers who have joined studies starting from 1st Jan 2008 will automatically become BEetle Link members.
* Catch the nannakolas when you have joined study or successfully referred friends.
* The nannakolas collected entitle you to exchange for gifts.
* Nannakolas have a lifespan of 2 years, and must be used prior to their expiry date.
* Any unused nannakolas will be automatically forfeited and release to their natural habitat after the applicable expiry date.

Let’s start catching the nannakolas :

One full study (2 period): 10 nannakolas
Any 1 period of the study: 5 nannakolas
Successful referral: Refer to Volunteer Referral Rewards!!!

4 easy steps to turns your

# Call us at 04-6455760 or visit us at Hospital Pantai Mutiara to check your total nannakolas.
# Select items to be redeemed and fill up the form.
# Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing.
# Present your BEetle Link card and collect the redeem item(s).

* Products may not be exactly as shown

More gifts and privileges are coming up…don’t miss it!

BEetle links…Your link to healthy lifestyle
* 016-4125760
* volunteer@info-kinetics.com
* friendster
* http://beetlelink.blogspot.com/

Volunteer Referral Rewards

Do you have friends who are interested to have fun in IKSB?
Refer to us, as long as they are as Healthy as you are…

If they have been successfully screened and enrolled into a study, you’ll be appreciated.
If you have any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Jennifer: 04-6455760, 016-4125760

BEetle Link...Your link to healthy lifestyle

Earth Hour 2009 – What Will You Be Doing?

Cuddling up with your loved ones and admiring the stars in the night sky or organising a treasure hunt in the dark? At 8:30pm on Saturday 28 March, people from all corners of the world will turn off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour - and cast their vote for action on climate change. Anybody can participate and join together with millions of people across the globe celebrating Earth Hour.
Earth Hour is about taking simple steps everyday that collectively reduce carbon emissions – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.
Here are 10 different ways to spend Earth Hour and reduce your carbon footprint:
1. Attend a local Earth Hour event or organise your own by throwing an Earth Hour street party with your neighbours
2. Gather family & friends for a night picnic in your local park and look at the stars
3. Enjoy a family dinner by candlelight
4. Organise a treasure hunt in the dark
5. Take the dog for a night walk
6. Have a candle-lit bath
7. Sit in the dark and share stories
8. Organise a family night playing board games
9. Share a romantic night in with your loved one
10. Upload your ‘on the night’ photos and videos to flickr and YouTube respectively, and then add them to the Earth Hour flickr group and the global YouTube Group.
Earth Hour Executive Director, Andy Ridley, is encouraging people to participate in whatever way they choose and to think beyond the hour.
“There are no hard and fast rules surrounding participation in Earth Hour. We only ask that you flick that switch and have fun doing whatever you choose to do during that time.
Make Earth Hour work for you. Families with young children should feel free to turn their lights off earlier than 8:30pm and for those having too much fun in the dark during the hour, don’t feel you have to limit yourself to one hour and switch back on at 9:30pm.”

What is chikungunya fever?

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an insect-borne virus, that is transmitted to humans by virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes. Originally from Australia, there have been recent outbreaks of CHIKV associated with severe morbidity. CHIKV causes an illness with symptoms similar to dengue fever.

Chikungunya fever is a viral illness that is spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes. Chikungunya fever typically lasts from five to seven days and frequently causes severe and often incapacitating joint pain which sometimes persists for much longer periods. It is rarely life-threatening. There is no specific treatment for the disease but analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication may be used to reduce the pain and swelling. Aspirin should be avoided.

There is no vaccine against this virus, so preventive measures depend entirely on avoiding mosquito bites which occur mainly during the daytime, and eliminating mosquito breeding sites.

To avoid mosquito bites:
* wear clothes that cover as much skin as possible;
* use mosquito repellents on exposed skin and on clothing in accordance with label instructions;
* use mosquito nets to protect babies, older and sick people and others who rest during the day.
* use mosquito coils and insecticide vaporizers during the daytime.

The Aedes mosquitoes that transmit chikungunya virus breed in a wide variety of rain-filled containers which are common around human dwellings and workplaces, such as water storage containers, saucers under potted plants and drinking bowls for domestic animals, as well as discarded tyres and food containers.

To reduce mosquito breeding:
* remove discarded containers from around the house;
* for containers that are in use, turn them over or empty every 3–4 days to prevent mosquito breeding including any water-filled containers indoors. Alternatively, completely cover them to keep out mosquitoes.

Between February and October 2006 alone, more than 1.25 million people in India and south Asia were infected with the chikungunya virus. Other large-scale outbreaks of chikungunya fever have occurred in countries of east and central Africa, and the Indian Ocean countries, including Comoros, Gabon, Madagascar, the Maldives, Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion (France) and the Seychelles. In September 2007, a chikungunya outbreak following an imported case has been notified in northern Italy. The dramatic resurgence and geographic extension of chikungunya in recent years underlines our vulnerability to emerging infectious diseases spread by insects and emphasizes the importance of sustained control programmes as an essential component of health security.