Only three patients receiving treatment:
Novel Influenza on the wane
Nadira GUNATILLEKE
IDH has treated 89 Novel Influenza (A)H1N1 positive patients. Drugs,
medical equipment and other facilities are available at the IDH to treat
(A)H1NI patients. Only three patients are receiving treatment at the
moment while a few more persons are waiting to be diagnosed, IDH
Director, Dr. Anura Senanayake said.
Eight (A)H1N1 positive persons arrived from India up to October 8
while 29 affected persons came from Australia.
Nine persons who had close contacts with other infected persons were
found positive for (A)H1N1. In the early stage the majority of patients
arrived in Sri Lanka from Australia, UK, US, Saudi Arabia and Dubai but
later patients arrived from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India.
The Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry Epidemiology Unit requested the
public to restrict travel to India to prevent getting infected with
(A)H1N1 because India is affected by the disease.
The unit advised persons visiting India to take precautionary
measures such as using masks, avoid attending events where people
gather, avoid mass gatherings and keep away from sick people.
Persons who develop influenza after travelling abroad should seek
medical treatment and consult a doctor or Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH),
Angoda. When the outbreak was reported in Mexico, the Ministry allocated
20 sentinel hospitals in 20 districts to treat (A)H1N1 and also obtained
drugs, medical equipment and masks from the WHO. The Ministry also took
steps to detect (A)H1N1 patients at the Bandaranaike International
Airport (BIA) and Colombo Harbour as soon as the disease was reported in
Mexico three months ago.
Thermal scanners were installed at the BIA to detect persons with
high body temperature.
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