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Trinidad and Tobago - H1N1 Suspect cases

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  • Trinidad and Tobago - H1N1 Suspect cases

    Mexican treated for swine flu-like symptoms in Sando

    Louis B Homer lhomer@trinidadexpress.com

    Saturday, May 30th 2009

    A Mexican man working for a Trinidad energy company is now at the San Fernando General Hospital, being treated for symptoms similar to those of the H1N1 "swine flu" virus.

    The medical ward on which he is being kept has been quarantined.

    Whether the man has contracted the potentially fatal illness will be known when testing at the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre at Federation Park, Long Circular, is done.

    The "swine flu" was first detected in Mexico in April and, as of May 25, more than 80 Mexicans have died and some 4,000 infected. Cases have been recorded in almost 50 countries, including Venezuela, but the virus is yet to reach Trinidad.

    A hospital source told the Express that the Mexican is an employee of one of the energy companies with operations offshore. The source said, "He told doctors that he was in contact with someone in Mexico who had contracted the virus."

    The Express learned that the patient was suffering with high fever and other symptoms associated with the swine flu. Test results are expected today.

    According to the World Health Organisation, "swine flu" can be spread from person to person in the same way as the regular seasonal influenza viruses.

  • #2
    Re: Trinidad and Tobago - H1N1 Suspect cases

    Local woman tests positive for 'swine flu'

    Darryl Heeralal dheeralal@trinidadexpress.com

    Thursday, June 4th 2009

    A WOMAN has tested positive for the H1N1 or "swine flu" virus, the Ministry of Health has said.

    She is a national with a "very strong recent travel history to several countries having been affected by the virus", the Ministry of Health said yesterday.

    A second test is expected to be done on the woman today, after she was diagnosed positive for the virus.


    "Because this might be the index case (first case) for Trinidad and Tobago, the Ministry of Health is repeating the test so that the results may be confirmed," a Ministry statement said.

    "After developing flu-like symptoms, the patient was screened for Influenza A; the results of that first screening test came back negative. The specific diagnostic for H1N1 was then administered and the results came back positive for this specific sub-type."

    The woman is said to be doing well and remains isolated and is under "continuous monitoring", the Ministry said.

    The Ministry did not divulge any specific information about the woman. or at which hospital she is being kept. More information on her is expected to be given out today.

    The Ministry is also currently testing people who may have been in contact with the woman.

    If confirmed, this country will be the fourth in the region to have cases of "swine flu", following two cases in Jamaica and one each in the Bahamas and Bermuda.

    To date, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported confirmed cases of "swine flu" in 66 countries with 19,273 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 117 deaths.

    The Ministry of Health is urging all citizens to take preventative measures to ensure the virus does not spread. These include:

    - The washing of hands often with soap and water or with an alcohol-based hand sanitiser;

    - Coughing or sneezing into a tissue or your elbow instead of into your hands;

    - Staying at home from work or school and limiting contact with others to avoid infecting others if you are ill.

    More information on H1N1 is available at www.health.gov.tt, Facebook group Ministry of Health, Twitter account @moh_tt, e-mail at corpcomm@health.gov.tt, 800-9355 or the WHO at www.who.int.

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    • #3
      airplane passengers may have been exposed



      Call for Flight 1647 passengers to contact 'H1N1' hotline
      Aabida Allaham
      Sunday, June 7th 2009


      Some 182 people who travelled on American Airlines Flight 1647 from Miami to Piarco International Airport on May 30 have been exposed to the "swine flu" virus (Influenza A H1N1), according to the Health Ministry.

      As a result, the Ministry is asking that all people who were on that flight, and who have not yet been contacted, to call the Ministry's H1N1 hotline at 800-WELL (9355) immediately.

      The Ministry's call comes after two people on board the flight tested positive for "swine flu"-the first being an unnamed woman who was said to have been tested positive last Friday; and then a second unidentified individual, who was tested positive just yesterday.

      Businessman and former works minister Carlos John, who was also a passenger on the American Airlines flight, yesterday told the Sunday Express that he has been screened and was not in any state of confinement because he was fine.

      "I was on that flight... but I am healthy. I have no symptoms and I am doing just fine," he said.

      Another passenger on the flight, who asked that his name not be disclosed, also said he was screened for the virus and that he was in perfect health.

      The Ministry, in a news release yesterday, said the testing of passengers on the AA flight was consistent with the protocols it has adopted to screen people arriving from affected countries.

      As a further precautionary measure, the Ministry has requested that all people on board the American Airlines flight stay at home as much possible and avoid mass gatherings.

      According to communications official Kevin Garcia, while the current findings of the tests done on the infected individuals have indicated a mild strain of the virus, it is not impossible for the virus to mutate.

      "So, in order to minimise the possibility of any potential spread of the virus, we would like to reiterate... that all activities have been ramped up to ensure the containment of the virus locally," he said.

      World Health Organisation (WHO) current information is that 69 countries have officially reported 21,940 cases of "swine flu" infection and 125 deaths.

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