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  • Trinidad advertising boss among swine flu deaths



    Trinidad advertising boss among swine flu deaths

    BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, October 16, 2009 - The swine flu death count in the Caribbean continues to rise, with Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago reporting that more persons have died from the virus - one of them a well known businesswoman in the twin-island republic.

    Although victims have not been identified by health authorities in Caribbean countries where the virus is claiming lives, the Trinidad Express newspaper reported that ad agency boss, Astra Da Costa, died yesterday of complications related to the virus. She was the third such death in the country.

    Da Costa, the co-founder and executive chairman of Ample Advertising, reportedly complained of feeling unwell on September 27th, a day after she returned home from St Lucia, and was admitted to hospital. Test results confirmed on Wednesday she had the virus.

    Da Costa went into cardiac arrest yesterday afternoon and died about one hour later.

    The newspaper quoted her business partner, Alfred Aguiton, saying that the 62-year-old had a medical problem that caused delicate tissues in her lungs to harden and the swine flu virus exacerbated her condition.
    Over in Barbados, Chief Medical Officer Dr Joy St John also confirmed a third swine flu-related death.

    She said that, like the two before, the latest was an adult with underlying medical conditions.

    There have been 147 confirmed cases in Barbados so far. But Dr St John emphasised that that number only reflected a fraction of those persons who were likely to have contracted the illness, since not all individuals with flu-like symptoms have been tested.

    She reported that the Ministry of Health's surveillance system had detected a moderate decline in the number of persons presenting to health care facilities with flu-like symptoms over the past week, when compared to the surge of two weeks earlier.

    Meantime, health authorities in Grenada have restricted access to the country's main hospital as among new measures implemented on the heels of an announcement earlier this week that three workers tested positive.

    "It is not that the hospital is totally contaminated and we are closing it because of H1N1. We have to protect the patients in the institutions themselves and the more we curtail traffic it's easier to manage," said Health Minister Ann Peters.

    A total of six persons have tested positive for swine flu in Grenada.

  • #2
    Re: Trinidad advertising boss among swine flu deaths

    Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,109322.html

    Lung infection killed Da Costa

    By SEAN DOUGLAS Saturday, October 17 2009

    ASTRA DA COSTA, executive chairman of Ample Advertising Company Limited and a former broadcaster, died of a lung infection known as bronco pneumonia, accompanied by lung abscess, according to preliminary results of an autopsy done at the mortuary of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital yesterday morning.

    Sources told Newsday that tissue-samples have been sent for further testing and added that the preliminary results showed no evidence of the H1N1 virus which was responsible for four deaths in the country last week.

    Broncho pneumonia, according to Mosby?s Medical Dictionary, is characterised as an ?acute inflammation of the lungs and bronchioles, characterised by chills, fever, high pulse and respiratory rates, bronchial breathing, cough with purulent bloody sputum, severe chest pain, and abdominal distension. The disease is usually a result of the spread of infection from the upper to the lower respiratory tract, most common caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Staphylococcus pyogenes, or Streptococcus pneumoniae.?

    Da Costa was ailing for some time with pulmonary fibrosis, which is a thickening of the lung muscles. She was also a diabetic.

    She suffered cardiac arrest at the hospital on Thursday and died. Reports that she had died of swine flu were said to be inconclusive.

    Port-of-Spain North Rotary Club chairman, Nabi Najar, knew Da Costa well, as in July he had taken over the post she formerly held before she moved on to serve as Rotary District Governor. ?I was disturbed and disheartened by what has happened all of a sudden,? Nabi said he had just begun working together with Da Costa and had tremendously enjoyed that time. ?One is very much lost for words. Rotary in the district and internationally will be mourning her sudden departure,? Najar said.

    He added that TT had lost someone who contributed a great deal to society. ?I would like to offer our condolences to her family and our prayers are with them at this moment,? Najar said.

    Nicole Duke-Westfield, president of the TT chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), also mourned Da Costa?s death. ?I always remember Astra as the consummate professional. She never appeared to be unprepared, even when a request was being thrust upon her at the last minute.

    ?She took pride in her work and had a great respect for her profession and colleagues. The industry has lost a leader and humanitarian,? Duke-Westfield said.

    Duke-Westfield said Da Costa had mentored many top professionals in the field and served on the Advertising Agencies Association of Trinidad and Tobago, the Public Relations Association of Trinidad and Tobago and the IABC.

    At the time of her death, Da Costa headed Ample Advertising Agency, which however was in very serious financial difficulty.

    So far, up to one month ago, Ample had retrenched 34 employees, who were asked to wait until year-end for their severance pay. Ample owed large sums of money to various arms of the media in Trinidad and Tobago ? press, radio and television. They owed the most to Newsday, Guardian and Express.

    Da Costa and representatives of Ample had met the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association to discuss how they were going to meet their growing indebtedness. Ample had given assurances and were keeping to their commitment to pay off what they owed.

    The company experienced financial difficulties when they lost many of their major clients, including bpTT and G-Tech, and advertising placed by the Government.

    The biggest blow came with the collapse of the CL Financial Group and Clico, who were major clients.

    Her funeral service will be held next Tuesday at 10.30 am at St Finbar?s RC Church, Diego Martin.

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