Members of the supreme committee were discussing the best ways to fight swine flu during a meeting. They have [...]]]>

The Kingdom of Bahrain announced that its health authorities are going to begin a new campaign to increase public awareness against swine flu, aiming to support the efforts for prevention of the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Members of the supreme committee were discussing the best ways to fight swine flu during a meeting. They have agreed on a campaign that will be addressing school children, pilgrims and patients suffering from chronic diseases. Dr. Abdulhai Al Awadhi, the undersecretary at the Ministry of Health, mentioned that the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the world is no longer in a pandemic status considering swine flu. Yet, the H1N1 is to be regarded as a form of seasonal flu that must be fought to be sure that the virus does not spread. Dr. Al Awadhi added that the public should not be afraid or concerned. He said that detecting two cases of swine flu recently in the kingdom does not refer to recurrence of pandemic condition in Bahrain.

The Committee also highlighted the procedures carried out by the health centers in Bahrain to be ready to manage any new H1N1 cases. The Committee sent a memo to all doctors and other healthcare staff members mentioning the significant importance of offering rapid treatment to patients identified with swine flu. Meanwhile, officials in ministry of health confirmed that medications and vaccines are available in all healthcare centers across Bahrain. Dr. Al Awadhi noted that the campaign is going to raise awareness about general hygiene of children as the next scholastic year is about to start. Meanwhile, the campaign will also encourage pilgrims to have vaccination against the virus before travelling to Saudi Arabia.

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Spokesman Gregory Hartl said that the Emergency Committee is waiting for the onset of winter in the southern hemisphere before making its recommendation.

The WHO’s guidance on whether [...]]]>

The World Health Organization (WHO) will review the status of the H1N1 virus later this month or in early June to decide whether the swine flu pandemic is over.

Spokesman Gregory Hartl said that the Emergency Committee is waiting for the onset of winter in the southern hemisphere before making its recommendation.

The WHO’s guidance on whether a disease constitutes a pandemic determines how its 193 member governments handle an outbreak, including stockpiling vaccines and antivirals.

The United Nations body has been accused of exaggerating the dangers of the H1N1 outbreak, which was declared a full pandemic in June 2009 after dominating last year’s health assembly.

The current virus appears to have been less severe than the two previous influenza pandemics in 1957 and 1968, which killed about 2 million and 1 million people respectively, with most victims suffering only mild symptoms.

John Mackenzie, who chairs the emergency committee and is the only one of its 15 members to have been publicly identified, said last month that the current pandemic was as severe as the two previous ones and remained a threat.

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MoH Undersecretary Dr. Ibrahim Al-Abdulhadi stressed that the ministry is committed to continuing its preventive plan to guard against any reappearance [...]]]>

“Kuwait is swine flu free,” said a senior Ministry of Health (MoH) official on Tuesday, revealing that the data for January indicated that no new cases of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus had been detected.

MoH Undersecretary Dr. Ibrahim Al-Abdulhadi stressed that the ministry is committed to continuing its preventive plan to guard against any reappearance of the disease.

The third wave of the disease is due to end by the end of this week, Dr. Al-Abdulhadi revealed, with no new infections being found among either citizens or residents.

The undersecretary made his announcement following a meeting with the Higher Committee for Combating Swine Flu, during which discussion focused on the plans to deal with the third wave of the disease and any potential cases of infection. The committee will remain committed to honoring the contracts which it signed with pharmaceutical firms regarding the purchase of medication to treat the disease, he added.

Dr. Al-Abdulhadi revealed that among the potential solutions presented to date is a recommendation to excuse nurses from using the system, allowing them to use a different one instead. Another proposal is to provide additional fingerprint attendance recording equipment. The undersecretary said that a decision on which solution will be introduced is expected from the CSC shortly, since it is responsible for the implementation of the system in all public sector departments.

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“There are no moves at the ministry to make it compulsory, neither are there at the Ministry of Health,” said the Education Ministry’s head of School [...]]]>

The Ministry of Education has said that it will not make swine flu vaccinations compulsory for primary school pupils despite the low turnout during the first week of the campaign.

“There are no moves at the ministry to make it compulsory, neither are there at the Ministry of Health,” said the Education Ministry’s head of School Health, Soleiman Al-Shehri.

Al-Shehri said, however, that the public should be more aware of the importance of taking the vaccination. “We are still at the beginning of the campaign and still collecting data, and we should have information by the end of the campaign’s second week,” he said, adding that health and medical staff should make every effort to make the public aware of the vaccination’s importance.

Initial reports on the swine flu vaccination campaign show that the turnout has been very low, a fact as yet neither confirmed nor denied by the ministries of Education and Health.

A nationwide Ministry of Health survey conducted prior to the campaign suggested that 65 percent of school pupils’ parents did not intend to sign approval for their children to be vaccinated.

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The three cases were all female, the first a 16-year-old from Beheira, the second a 20-year-old from Dakhalia and the third a 26-year-old from Cairo.

In the latest swine flu weekly update, the number [...]]]>

Egypt’s Ministry of Health has announced three more deaths from swine flu Monday, raising the death toll from the H1N1 virus to 94.

The three cases were all female, the first a 16-year-old from Beheira, the second a 20-year-old from Dakhalia and the third a 26-year-old from Cairo.

In the latest swine flu weekly update, the number of cases reported in Egypt reached 7,330 according to official spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Abdel Rahman Shahin.

According to the latest swine flu report, 2,538 cases were infected during the period between Dec.14 until Dec. 20, which includes 1,270 cases found in schools and 134 in universities.

The number of cases treated from the virus are 6,981, which is more than 95 percent, and 260 cases are still under treatment at hospitals around the country.

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The ministry indicated that 24,000 citizens have been vaccinated against the pandemic so far.

It also noted that the H1N1 | swine flu vaccination campaign [...]]]>

Jordan reported 16 new cases of the H1N1 – swine flu over the past week, raising the total number of infections in the Kingdom to 3049, according to Health Ministry weekly report.

The ministry indicated that 24,000 citizens have been vaccinated against the pandemic so far.

It also noted that the H1N1 | swine flu vaccination campaign has given priority to most vulnerable categories, including women in the third trimester of their pregnancy, children under 3 years of age and patients with severe asthma, kidney or heart failure, AIDS and cancer as well as those with type 1 diabetes.

Also among priority groups are medical staff and armed forces and security apparatuses field commanders and personnel.

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Public schools and universities [...]]]>

After more than three months of summer vacation and the postponement of the first day of school for a whole month, students around Egypt headed to schools and universities on Saturday Oct. 4, only to face more school closures because of the global swine flu pandemic that had reached Egypt in June.

Public schools and universities were scheduled to begin after Ramadan on Sept. 26, but fears of a swine flu outbreak pushed the government to postpone it one week.

This came days after deputy minister of education, Reda Abou Sera, said, “Egypt will not close down schools or postpone the start of the academic year … any school that reports H1N1 cases will be dealt with individually.”

In addition, international and private schools and universities which had already started at the beginning of September were asked to suspend classes until Oct. 5. A joint committee between the Ministries of Education and Health had met prior to the academic year to outline the necessary precautionary measures necessary in schools.

Before the start of the academic year, official inspectors from the ministry of health discovered that many schools around the country had no water supply. “Even though they count for less than 10 percent of the schools, this is something major that we are going to deal with right away,” said Amr Kandil, deputy minister of health for precautionary measures.

According to a Ministry of Education statement, schools need to take several simple steps to avoid the spread of the virus, which include having isolation rooms, ensuring proper ventilation and maintaining overall hygiene, especially in bathrooms.

Officials from the ministries of health and education have been urging students through different media channels to wash their hands all the time at school and to stay home if they feel any flu-like symptoms.

On the first day of the academic year, representatives from the Ministry of Health supervised schools daily to monitor the cleanliness levels. School walls were plastered with awareness posters on swine flu and how to avoid it.

Kandil urged parents to keep their children home if they exhibit any flu-like symptoms. Five cases of swine flu were announced in schools and universities during the first week of the academic year, in which cases classes were to be closed for two weeks before resuming.

When the academic year first started there were a little over 1,020 cases of swine flu in Egypt but after nearly one month the number jumped to over 1,254. By the end of the second month, the number was increasing exponentially, leading the ministry to stop issuing daily updates on the number of new swine flu cases.

Officials expected that infections would increase at educational institutions, since 55 percent of those who got the virus in Egypt are between five and 22 years old, which all go to schools and universities.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif ordered the extension of Eid Al-Adha vacation in November to 10 days for all educational institutions; however mid-year examination dates remained the same and the mid-year vacation is scheduled for Feb. 6.

To date, Egypt’s death toll from swine flu has reached 93, according to Ministry of Health.

The ministry said that a total of 7,330 cases have been reported around the country. According to the latest statistics, 2,538 cases were reported from Dec.14 to Dec. 20, including 1,270 cases in schools and 134 in universities.

The number of recovered cases reached 6,981, which is more than 95 percent of the total number of cases, leaving 260 cases under treatment in hospitals nationwide.

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A majority of the visitors at the facility do not actually need emergency care, but they prefer to go there, [...]]]>

The H1N1 scare coupled with an actual rise in flu cases and other seasonal diseases with the beginning of winter have caused a surge in the number of visitors at the Paediatric Emergency in Al Sadd.

A majority of the visitors at the facility do not actually need emergency care, but they prefer to go there, despite the huge rush, expecting better and faster care to their children, says its director Dr Khalid Al Ansari.

Opening of satellite centres in Al Rayyan and the Airport Area has not helped reduce the pressure on this main facility, added the official. The facility caters to children aged up to 14 years.

The Emergency recently set up a separate clinic for H1N1 cases. Any child that comes with flu-like symptoms has been referred to this clinic for diagnosis and treatment.

“We have created an isolation area for such cases so that the other patients would not be exposed to the risk of being infected. We have been receiving 160 to 200 cases daily since opening of the clinic, which has gone up to 250 during the Eid holidays, said Al Ansari.

The flu cases include a number of suspected H1N1 cases, that have been treated at the clinic. Most patients are sent home after giving medication and they recover fast. None of the H1N1 cases reported to the clinic were of a serious nature, added the official.

“Our focus is to provide quality care. We don’t turn back any patient, seeking our service. The Al Sadd Emergency remains crowded through out the year perhaps because people have more trust in our services.

We have been constantly upgrading our facilities with more qualified staff and more advanced equipment,  said Al Ansari.

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The ministry’s weekly H1N1 update, issued yesterday, showed that 29 swine flu cases were registered between November 25 and December 2, down from 87 the previous week.

The weekly total [...]]]>

The Kingdom witnessed a drop in confirmed swine flu cases over the past week, with no new fatalities reported, a Ministry of Health report indicated on Wednesday.

The ministry’s weekly H1N1 update, issued yesterday, showed that 29 swine flu cases were registered between November 25 and December 2, down from 87 the previous week.

The weekly total represented the fourth consecutive decrease and a major drop from last month, when 264 cases were recorded in the November 11-18 period and 293 between November 4 and 11.

One of the new cases registered in the past week was a foreigner, according to a Health Ministry statement, which indicated that 34 per cent of the patients were below the age of 10.

Around one-fourth of the new cases were the 20-24 age bracket, 24 per cent in the 25-29 age group and 11 per cent above the age of 30. Approximately 7 per cent of the new cases were reported among those aged between 10 and 19, the ministry statement said, noting that 58 per cent of the new cases were males.

As of Wednesday, the total number of H1N1 cases reported in the Kingdom since the first case was recorded in June, stood at 2,984, with 14 deaths.

Although authorities began inoculating high-risk groups last month, Bilbeisi noted that many people are still reluctant to take the vaccine. Health authorities have refused to elaborate on the number of people who have been vaccinated against the disease.

In order to curb the spread of swine flu, the ministry is currently vaccinating those categorised as high-risk groups.

These include 30,000 women in the third trimester of pregnancy, 310 patients suffering from kidney failure, children with type 1 diabetes, people with heart failure, an estimated 109 AIDS patients, some 1,200 thalassaemia patients and 10,000 patients with severe asthma.

In addition, the ministry has allocated 5,000 vaccines for medical staff who are in direct contact with swine flu patients, while some civil defence and public security personnel will also be inoculated.

The Health Ministry is purchasing two million vaccines from Novartis and 250,000 from Glaxo SmithKline, with one million doses to be delivered by the end of the year.

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