Ab-Titchaz
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- Jan 30, 2008
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Public Health Minister Beth Mugo broke the news on Monday, saying that the patient may have had contact with the initial suspected case that turned negative on Saturday in Nairobi.
The patient has been quarantined at a hotel in Kisumu, she told a press conference at her Afya House office.
On Saturday a suspected case of Swine Flu in Kenya tested negative after momentarily spreading panic across Nairobi.
Ministry of Public Health officials said tests conducted at the Kenya Medical Research Institute based Centre for Disease Control produced no traces of the H1N1 influenza virus.
Samples were taken from a 20-year old Kenyan female student who had arrived from London and reported that she may have come into contact with someone exhibiting symptoms of the flu.
She was rushed to the AAR Health Clinic at Sarit Centre, Westlands where doctors immediately alerted KEMRI officials who took over the case.
AAR Public Relations Officer Juliet Ratemo said: We closed the AAR Health Centre and took all measures to ensure that our staff and other patients present did not come into further unprotected contact with the patient.
News about the patient had spread across Nairobi via SMS overnight on Friday, spreading panic as people sought to know the authenticity of the text messages.
In mid this month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the Pandemic alert status from phase 5 to phase 6, which meant that the disease had reached the emergency level.
Its not killing more people, its not more aggressive than before so dont think because we have elevated the phase to 6 the disease has become more severe, no! It is about geographical spread. We have been expecting the worst, we are lucky its not that bad, Dr David Okello, WHO Kenya Director had said.
After the alert was raised, Public Health Minister Beth Mugo said the government had stepped up surveillance of the influenza H1N1 and over 50,000 doses of the drug Tamiflu was in the stock pile for use in case of an outbreak in the country.
She had also said there was a ready isolation facility at the Kenyatta National Hospital in case of an outbreak.
The first case of influenza H1N1 virus was reported in late April in Mexico.
According to the WHO website, by Friday, there were 59,814 confirmed cases of the swine flu around the world. 263 people have died of the disease.
The H1N1 strain is a new type of virus that has not circulated previously in humans. The virus is contagious, spreading easily from one person to another and from one country to another.
Young people under the age of 25 years are the main casualties in all the countries.
A similar outbreak occurred in 1918 but was more severe than the current epidemic but the WHO warned that this may change hence the need for more vigilance.
Kenyans can get more information on the disease through the following contacts: 0722- 331 548,020-204 0542, 271 8292.
.: Capital News :.
