Tweet
Source: http://www.island.lk/2008/11/02/leisure7.html
Sri Lanka on alert for avian flu
by Zanita Careem
Sri Lanka has taken several precautionary measures against avian influenza, said Dr Prabha Palihawardena of the Health Ministry's 'Epidemiological Unit in an interview with the Sunday Island.
"We now regularly send surveillance teams to alert hospitals when avian influenza is reported in nearby countries and also monitoring teams to sanctuaries where the migratory birds flock".
"Although there have been no cases of the disease among poultry or humans, Sri Lanka is considered at high risk because of its close proximity to certain nations which have already had significant avian flue outbreaks.
Dr. Palihawardena said hospitals had been earmarked for handling patients who contact the disease. Special training programmes have been initiated and drugs to fight the infection are available.
Sri Lanka is well prepared to handle the onset of spread of avian influenza, said Dr. Palihawardena with a positive note
Among the key measures considered she said, is close monitoring of wild waterfowl from temperate countries that roost annually in the island and tropical wetlands.
Regarded as a likely source of infection, the visiting birds which are in Sri Lanka topically between September and April have been subjected to scrutiny, with their droppings, saliva and other secretions collected and analyzed systematically.
We have a good network like National Steering Committee and National Technical Committee meeting regularly to discuss issues on Avian influenza.
Talking about the high risk in Sri Lanka Dr. Palihawradena said the migratory birds could bring the virus. She did not rule out even pet birds.
Speaking further she said Sri Lanka is well prepared with preventive measures. Some of the other measures taken are training of the hospital staff to meet emergency cases . We also motivate the staff at the OPD to carry out the influenza surveillance programmes effectively like collecting samples from the MRI and from each sentinel hospital to look for influenza virus.
Community awareness is also created to detect the disease and anti-virals are distributed to hospitals.
The microbiology laboratory of the MRI and the two peripheral laboratories are to be upgraded and modernised to cater to the ever increasing number of samples received from the sentinel sites. The necessary equipments too have already been purchased.
The Teaching Hospital in Kandy and microbiology lab at the Department of Microbiology Faculty of Medicine and University of Kelaniya are identified for further development. The entry points at the airport health officials are on the alert to prevent passengers with any virus entering the country.
The World Health Organisation considers avian flu a serious threat to Sri Lanka, especially in the North and East. The surveillance and protection programmes continue, as the virus could very well strike undetected in those areas.
A United Nation report has said that despite widespread awareness of the risks of the next flu pandemic, the world needs to drastically improve co-operation in preparing for what would be a major global crisis. The report said that even a mild flu pandemic might kill 1.4 million people worldwide, while the death toll from a severe outbreak could reach 70 million.
The widespread awareness and action taken by the Epidemiological Unit of the Ministry of Health is a feather in our cap and a major achievement.
But more needs be done to ensure that we are ready for this kind of major global crisis .
A pre-pandemic influenza vaccine is the only vaccine which can be produced in advance and stockpiled today, allowing immediate availability in the event of a WHO declared pandemic. In contrast, a pandemic influenza vaccine can only go into production once the exact pandemic influenza strain is determined and declared, with the first doses being available in a minimum of four months after the onset of a pandemic.
The pre-pandemic influenza vaccine concept is based on using a currently circulating avian influenza virus likely to cause a pandemic, such as H5N1, to make a vaccine with the ability to raise immune protection against potential drift H5N1 strains. With experts citing immunisation with stockpiled pre-pandemic influenza vaccine as the most effective strategy for protecting entire populations,3,4 GSK?s pre-pandemic vaccine will play a critical role in pandemic preparedness planning.
Sri Lanka on alert for avian flu
by Zanita Careem
Sri Lanka has taken several precautionary measures against avian influenza, said Dr Prabha Palihawardena of the Health Ministry's 'Epidemiological Unit in an interview with the Sunday Island.
"We now regularly send surveillance teams to alert hospitals when avian influenza is reported in nearby countries and also monitoring teams to sanctuaries where the migratory birds flock".
"Although there have been no cases of the disease among poultry or humans, Sri Lanka is considered at high risk because of its close proximity to certain nations which have already had significant avian flue outbreaks.
Dr. Palihawardena said hospitals had been earmarked for handling patients who contact the disease. Special training programmes have been initiated and drugs to fight the infection are available.
Sri Lanka is well prepared to handle the onset of spread of avian influenza, said Dr. Palihawardena with a positive note
Among the key measures considered she said, is close monitoring of wild waterfowl from temperate countries that roost annually in the island and tropical wetlands.
Regarded as a likely source of infection, the visiting birds which are in Sri Lanka topically between September and April have been subjected to scrutiny, with their droppings, saliva and other secretions collected and analyzed systematically.
We have a good network like National Steering Committee and National Technical Committee meeting regularly to discuss issues on Avian influenza.
Talking about the high risk in Sri Lanka Dr. Palihawradena said the migratory birds could bring the virus. She did not rule out even pet birds.
Speaking further she said Sri Lanka is well prepared with preventive measures. Some of the other measures taken are training of the hospital staff to meet emergency cases . We also motivate the staff at the OPD to carry out the influenza surveillance programmes effectively like collecting samples from the MRI and from each sentinel hospital to look for influenza virus.
Community awareness is also created to detect the disease and anti-virals are distributed to hospitals.
The microbiology laboratory of the MRI and the two peripheral laboratories are to be upgraded and modernised to cater to the ever increasing number of samples received from the sentinel sites. The necessary equipments too have already been purchased.
The Teaching Hospital in Kandy and microbiology lab at the Department of Microbiology Faculty of Medicine and University of Kelaniya are identified for further development. The entry points at the airport health officials are on the alert to prevent passengers with any virus entering the country.
The World Health Organisation considers avian flu a serious threat to Sri Lanka, especially in the North and East. The surveillance and protection programmes continue, as the virus could very well strike undetected in those areas.
A United Nation report has said that despite widespread awareness of the risks of the next flu pandemic, the world needs to drastically improve co-operation in preparing for what would be a major global crisis. The report said that even a mild flu pandemic might kill 1.4 million people worldwide, while the death toll from a severe outbreak could reach 70 million.
The widespread awareness and action taken by the Epidemiological Unit of the Ministry of Health is a feather in our cap and a major achievement.
But more needs be done to ensure that we are ready for this kind of major global crisis .
A pre-pandemic influenza vaccine is the only vaccine which can be produced in advance and stockpiled today, allowing immediate availability in the event of a WHO declared pandemic. In contrast, a pandemic influenza vaccine can only go into production once the exact pandemic influenza strain is determined and declared, with the first doses being available in a minimum of four months after the onset of a pandemic.
The pre-pandemic influenza vaccine concept is based on using a currently circulating avian influenza virus likely to cause a pandemic, such as H5N1, to make a vaccine with the ability to raise immune protection against potential drift H5N1 strains. With experts citing immunisation with stockpiled pre-pandemic influenza vaccine as the most effective strategy for protecting entire populations,3,4 GSK?s pre-pandemic vaccine will play a critical role in pandemic preparedness planning.