He said patients jumping from one doctor to another might not have their sickness diagnosed quickly or accurately.

“Patients may move to another doctor if they do not get better and symptoms persist.

“Infectious diseases progress over a few days.

“Some viruses take a few days to show symptoms and if you go back to the same doctor or clinic, they will be able to better track the disease and treat you,” MMA President Dr John Chew said.

He said a regular doctor or clinic, using a patient’s records, would also be in a position to notice anything wrong with a person.

This was especially true with the country seeing a rise in a number of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis (TB) and typhoid, due to the influx of migrant workers and travellers.

Foreign workers and visitors also bring Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), sexually transmitted diseases (STD), Zika and malaria.

Chew said Malaysia would also see a spike in malaria and typhoid cases due to the rise in the number of migrants, especially illegal migrants and travellers, who are not vaccinated against these two diseases.

He advised everyone to boost their immunity with a proper diet and exercise. Smokers, Chew said, should also quit.

“Those with good immunity will be able to fight these viruses.”

The Health Ministry reported that deaths involving TB have increased by 5.8 per cent last year when 24,220 TB cases were recorded. The ministry had screened 253,955 people from the high-risk group via chest X-rays.

Chew said the Zika virus, which has claimed lives in South America, had the potential to mutate and turn pandemic if it established itself in Southeast Asia.

“Once it establishes itself in the Southeast Asian region, it has the potential to turn into a pandemic. Once a case is reported, quick action will need to be taken to curb it.”

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in monkeys through a network that monitored yellow fever.

Chew explained that a majority of migrants were susceptible to these infectious diseases after living in crowded squalid conditions. Malaysians may not be immune to such diseases.

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) Executive Director Shamsuddin Bardan said there were currently 2.8 to 2.9 million migrant workers in Malaysia. However, the number of illegal workers is still unknown.

According to the Tourism and Culture Ministry’s website, Malaysia welcomed 25 million tourists last year.