Nepal - 5,000 ill; 5 dead of Swine Flu

[Roehl_JC]

Re: Nepal - 5,000 ill; 5 dead of Swine Flu

Saturday, 17 October 2009

47 Confirmed With A/h1n1 Flu In Nepal


Dispite the government claim that all-out efforts are being made to contain the A/H1N1 flu in Nepal, the virus seems to be spreading rapidly across the country, according to Saturday's The Kathmandu Post, Xinhua reported.
Earlier, there were 44 confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu, all of whom had either travelled abroad or contacted with foreigners.
"But now three cases have been confirmed, and the patients had neither a history of travel nor contact with confirmed patients," said Dr. Jitendra Man Shrestha, Deputy Coordinator at Avian Influenza Control Project, under the Ministry of Health.
The ministry has directed all major hospitals in the country to treat the flu patients.

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/91575/-47-confirmed-with-a-h1n1-flu-in-nepal-.html

comment:
sounds like 47 confirmed cases now of H1N1 in Nepal, but your guess is as good as mine as to whether or not those other 44 are really confirmed or not, and as to whether or not there's other pathogens in the region.

[alert]

Re: Nepal - 5,000 ill; 5 dead of Swine Flu

http://www.ekantipur.com/tkp/news/news-detail.php?news_id=1202

Too little being done
DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, OCT 21 - Despite precautionary measures, swine flu is spreading with a new strength in the community. As of Oct. 20, the number of confirmed infections has reached 44, which is likely to further shoot up, say officials.

Warning that the virus has more teeth, health officials have asked the government to call on the international community for help and make extra effort to curb the virus. They have observed that the existing measures are not enough.

?The virus has now spread in the community and the possibility of it mutating and spreading is also high,? said Dr. Bhola Rijal, Chief at Om Hospital and Research Centre. Criticising the government?s lack of seriousness, Dr. Rijal asks. ?Where is the sense of urgency? Didn?t the government itself declare that the virus has spread??

Dr. Rijal said the government must call on the private sector as well as international agencies to work towards raising awareness and expanding diagnostic and treatment services.

According to Dr. Rijal, the virus has cross-border implications, thus all international agencies should combine efforts to contain the pandemic. ?Until now, the government has confirmed 44 cases, but it won?t be surprising if the same number becomes the death toll,? said he.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed eight more cases during random tests conducted among common flu patients at the major public hospitals in Kathmandu and Chitwan. Blood samples were collected from patients in Bir Hospital, Kanti Hospital, Patan, Bharatpur, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease, Hospital in Teku.

?After finding that the virus has started spreading in the communities, we stopped screening at the international borders, including at Tribhuvan International Airport because it is almost impossible to contain the virus through screening,? said Dr. Jitendra Man Shrestha, Deputy Coordinator of Avian Influenza Control Project, under the MoH. Dr. Shretha said that the government has not been able to launch mass awareness campaigns effectively.

Of the confirmed 44 cases, eight of the patients had neither a history of travel abroad nor had come in contact with virus-confirmed patients, Dr. Shrestha said.

What is even more harrowing is that the government has a stock of only 36,000 Tamiflu, which officials say will be too little if the virus becomes pandemic. The government has no vaccine till date in its store, though it claims that its first lot

will arrive in Kathmandu by November