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Threat of H1N1 virus in Caribbean puts Guyana on guard
Blood samples will have to be taken from any person suspected to have the H1N1 Influenza, which has in recent months infiltrated the Caribbean.
This is the disclosure of Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, who revealed that part of Guyana’s response to the threat, is the training of port health officers to detect the signs and symptoms of the virus.
This therefore means that port health officers at the main airports – Cheddi Jagan International at Timehri and Eugene F. Correia at Ogle – as well as other port of entries such as the Moleson Creek border crossing and Lethem, have been subjected to training.
Dr. Persaud revealed that the Public Health Ministry just recently completed a bout of training in this regard that also included immigration and airline and ferry operators and other conveyances.
Taking this approach is crucial in order to be fully on guard against the virus, Dr. Persaud said.
With confirmed cases of the H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu, in the Caribbean, Guyana is currently on high alert to guard against its infiltration, Dr. Persaud disclosed.
Along with training for port officials, there is the assurance that additional medical human resources have been placed at major ports of entry such as the Timehri airport to facilitate monitoring, since it is known to record the highest number of arrivals from various territories, including those with confirmed cases of the virus.
Cases of H1N1 have been reported in Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas, with reports of at least one fatality.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud
“We usually don’t have enough persons to monitor all the flights, especially at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport so, we recently added a doctor along with two Medical Extension officers [Medex] and a port health officer, and we are even looking for one additional person so we can cover the entire 24-hour period and any person identified with symptom,” said Dr. Persaud
Additionally, the CMO shared that commercial flight attendants are tasked with the responsibility to report to port health officials any observations of suspicious symptoms of the virus.
“Each arriving commercial flight is supposed to complete a general flight declaration that would indicate to us if there are any passengers on board who are coughing excessively, who experience fever during a flight, or any other symptoms like vomiting, diarrhoea or anything unusual that may occur during the flight.
The flight declarations are usually reviewed by a port health officer. And should a person be detected with the related symptoms, they are attended to by a port health official.
According to Dr. Persaud, at CJIA for instance, the doctor may administer initial medication before referring the patient to the nearest hospital for further medical care and screening.
For those at Moleson Creek, they are to be immediately referred to the Skeldon Hospital, while those at the Guyana-Brazil border are to be quickly referred to the Lethem Regional hospital.
Monitoring and surveillance for H1N1 and other communicable illnesses is a customary undertaking, and over the last two years, samples have been routinely taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation to ascertain the presence of the virus.
Since H1N1’s initial outbreak in 2009 in the United States, there have been no reports of any active transmission.
“That, of course, doesn’t mean that we don’t have cases, but at least for those samples that were tested, we have not detected any positive H1N1 among the flu cases in Guyana. So, we have been collecting samples and monitoring persons with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection [SARI] symptoms, so the surveillance team will continue with this,” said Dr. Persaud.
To help ward off the virus, persons are encouraged to practice good hygiene including the regular washing and sanitization of their hands. Additionally, persons with respiratory abnormalities are asked to see a licensed medical physician for treatment and those with flu-like symptoms are also advised to seek outpatient medical care forthwith.
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