Guyana will not be caught unawares by the H1N1/ Swine Flu virus, Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton said, adding that doctors at the Georgetown Public Hospital are aware and alert to the possibility of the virus entering Guyana.
The H1N1 virus is a strain of influenza which in 2009 was considered a novel strain. In that year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the H1N1 strain of influenza a pandemic. By the beginning of 2010 the virus was responsible for approximately 17,000 deaths worldwide.
Last week, two deaths as a result of H1N1 were confirmed in Trinidad and Tobago. Health officials there were reported by the Caribbean News Service as assuring the public that there is nothing to be worried about at the moment.
Norton gave similar assurances to the Guyanese public. He explained that the health officials are on the lookout.
“Only recently we had our internal health regulation task force meeting and we dealt with being prepared for all these different viruses. The hospitals are ready and there are also persons at our ports…, monitoring entry. There are persons at Charity, Lethem, Moleson Creek, Ogle and Timehri,” he said.
Still, the minister said persons with signs of the flu such as sneezing, coughing, respiratory distress and nasal secretions should visit their nearest health centre to be swabbed.
This swab, he explained will be sent to the National Reference Laboratory which will test it for H1N1.
“If they suspect that it is H1N1 they will send it to the Caribbean Public Health Agency for confirmation,” he said.
