Published:Wednesday | February 24, 2016
Health Minister Horace Dalley has ordered the activation of the national influenza plan on the heels of Jamaica recording one death linked to the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus or Swine Flu.
H1N1 is very contagious and potentially fatal. So far, nine cases of the flu have been recorded in the past two weeks, while a tenth case is being linked to another strain of influenza.
The health ministry announced that measures are being put in place through the National Emergency Operations Centre to prepare the health sector for any possible increase in the number of influenza cases.
The ministry’s team has been instructed to ensure that the necessary resources are put in place across all the regional health authorities.
Acting chief medical officer Dr Winston De La Haye stated that the ministry has noted an increase in influenza cases over the past six weeks. As a result, the H1N1 virus has been upgraded to a category one illness. This means that within 24 hours of suspecting a case of severe acute respiratory illness, medical practitioners must report it to the health authority. Previously, it was regarded as a category two illness, which gave medical practitioners one week to report suspected cases.
“We have confirmed ten cases since the start of the year and so far identified two strains of influenza viruses that are circulating among the population. Nine of the ten cases are H1N1. That nine includes one death. We have been strengthening our systems and increasing our supplies of medication to deal with this increase,” Dr. De La Haye said.
He said additional supplies of Tamiflu used to treat H1N1 have been acquired with more supplies to come. The CMO noted, however, that Tamiflu is only used to treat symptoms in severely affected patients and does not prevent illness.
Other measures put in place include frontline staff being offered the flu vaccine, isolation areas in hospitals prepared, additional equipment, testing capacity being increased and increased public education.
Dr. De La Haye is urging citizens to take steps to protect themselves and others from infection by observing proper hygiene practices. These include: clean hands frequently with soap and water; cover mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing; control the spread of germs: avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with dirty hands; avoid contact with persons with flu-like symptoms; and avoid intimate contact, including hand shaking and kissing.
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