Roehl_JC
Moderator
AMMAN - Prince Hamzah Hospital lacks the procedures and experts needed to deal with pregnant women diagnosed with H1N1 (swine) flu, a Ministry of Health source told The Jordan Times Saturday.
The Amman-based hospital was until recently the only facility authorised to deal with the pandemic.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the hospital management on Saturday refused to admit a pregnant woman infected with H1N1 and expected to deliver a baby today, because the hospital lacks a maternity ward.
He added that Al Bashir Hospital, the major public hospital in Amman, refused to let her in as it is not accredited to deal with swine flu cases.
The source also noted that an infected woman who is pregnant with triplets is currently in critical condition at Prince Hamzah Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) after the staff members were unable to deal with her case.
A third pregnant woman was admitted to Prince Hamzah Hospital last week in critical condition, and was forced to postpone her caesarean section one week because none of the Kingdom?s private hospitals agreed to admit her, according to her husband.
?I had to contact ministry officials to admit my wife to Al Bashir Hospital, even after she was fully recovered from the flu,? Nader Mashaal told The Jordan Times yesterday.
He added that medics at Al Bashir were afraid to treat her, and the couple decided to postpone the surgery by another week until Health Ministry officials intervened.
Also yesterday, several citizens complained that the ministry?s hotline designated to respond to queries about swine flu is either turned off, busy or unavailable.
?I tried to call this number several times last Wednesday but it was turned off,? Oula Mohammad, who exhibited symptoms of swine flu, told The Jordan Times yesterday, adding that she kept calling on Thursday and Friday and the line was either busy or unreachable.
Also yesterday, Adel Bilbeisi, director of the ministry?s primary healthcare directorate, refused to elaborate on news reports of a new swine flu death in Zarqa Governorate on Saturday.
Bilbeisi said the ministry will stop announcing swine flu deaths on a daily basis and will instead list them in its weekly report about the latest swine flu cases in the Kingdom.
?We will stop reporting death cases on daily basis, and will list them instead in the weekly report,? he said.
?The ministry will abide by the World Health Organisation?s regulations by issuing a weekly report listing the latest swine flu cases and fatalities in the country,? the official added.
According to sources from Al Hikmeh Private Hospital in Zarqa, a 41-year-old woman died Saturday morning after being diagnosed with H1N1, raising the number of H1N1-related fatalities in the Kingdom to six.
But according to the ministry?s latest announced figures, only five deaths have been confirmed, with the latest being a young woman who died on Friday at Al Hussein Hospital in Salt.
According to Bilbeisi, the victim was a 26-year-old woman who arrived at the hospital late Thursday in critical condition, and was immediately admitted into the hospital's ICU.
He added that the girl suffered from high fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.
"Tests conducted by the ministry indicated that the woman exhibited symptoms of the disease three days before she was admitted to hospital without reporting to any medical centre for a checkup until after the disease developed," Bilbeisi told The Jordan Times Friday.
Last week, the ministry issued a circular calling on people to report to hospital as soon as they feel swine flu symptoms.
?People who feel the first symptoms of swine flu should immediately report to any of the ministry?s public health centres or hospitals to be diagnosed during the early stages of the disease,? the ministry said in its statement.
It added that H1N1 symptoms are often similar to those of the seasonal flu.
Symptoms of swine flu include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some patients have also reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Over the past week, health authorities registered 303 instances of swine flu, raising the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 2,003, and five deaths, including three in Amman (a 26-year-old man, a 60-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl), one in Zarqa (a 22-year-old girl) and one in Salt.
http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=21213
The Amman-based hospital was until recently the only facility authorised to deal with the pandemic.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the hospital management on Saturday refused to admit a pregnant woman infected with H1N1 and expected to deliver a baby today, because the hospital lacks a maternity ward.
He added that Al Bashir Hospital, the major public hospital in Amman, refused to let her in as it is not accredited to deal with swine flu cases.
The source also noted that an infected woman who is pregnant with triplets is currently in critical condition at Prince Hamzah Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) after the staff members were unable to deal with her case.
A third pregnant woman was admitted to Prince Hamzah Hospital last week in critical condition, and was forced to postpone her caesarean section one week because none of the Kingdom?s private hospitals agreed to admit her, according to her husband.
?I had to contact ministry officials to admit my wife to Al Bashir Hospital, even after she was fully recovered from the flu,? Nader Mashaal told The Jordan Times yesterday.
He added that medics at Al Bashir were afraid to treat her, and the couple decided to postpone the surgery by another week until Health Ministry officials intervened.
Also yesterday, several citizens complained that the ministry?s hotline designated to respond to queries about swine flu is either turned off, busy or unavailable.
?I tried to call this number several times last Wednesday but it was turned off,? Oula Mohammad, who exhibited symptoms of swine flu, told The Jordan Times yesterday, adding that she kept calling on Thursday and Friday and the line was either busy or unreachable.
Also yesterday, Adel Bilbeisi, director of the ministry?s primary healthcare directorate, refused to elaborate on news reports of a new swine flu death in Zarqa Governorate on Saturday.
Bilbeisi said the ministry will stop announcing swine flu deaths on a daily basis and will instead list them in its weekly report about the latest swine flu cases in the Kingdom.
?We will stop reporting death cases on daily basis, and will list them instead in the weekly report,? he said.
?The ministry will abide by the World Health Organisation?s regulations by issuing a weekly report listing the latest swine flu cases and fatalities in the country,? the official added.
According to sources from Al Hikmeh Private Hospital in Zarqa, a 41-year-old woman died Saturday morning after being diagnosed with H1N1, raising the number of H1N1-related fatalities in the Kingdom to six.
But according to the ministry?s latest announced figures, only five deaths have been confirmed, with the latest being a young woman who died on Friday at Al Hussein Hospital in Salt.
According to Bilbeisi, the victim was a 26-year-old woman who arrived at the hospital late Thursday in critical condition, and was immediately admitted into the hospital's ICU.
He added that the girl suffered from high fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.
"Tests conducted by the ministry indicated that the woman exhibited symptoms of the disease three days before she was admitted to hospital without reporting to any medical centre for a checkup until after the disease developed," Bilbeisi told The Jordan Times Friday.
Last week, the ministry issued a circular calling on people to report to hospital as soon as they feel swine flu symptoms.
?People who feel the first symptoms of swine flu should immediately report to any of the ministry?s public health centres or hospitals to be diagnosed during the early stages of the disease,? the ministry said in its statement.
It added that H1N1 symptoms are often similar to those of the seasonal flu.
Symptoms of swine flu include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some patients have also reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Over the past week, health authorities registered 303 instances of swine flu, raising the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 2,003, and five deaths, including three in Amman (a 26-year-old man, a 60-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl), one in Zarqa (a 22-year-old girl) and one in Salt.
http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=21213