NewsWhore
05-26-2009, 02:30 PM
The Minister of Public health admitted yesterday that the virus that causes the A(H1N1) influenza is present in the country, but they have still not been able to confirm the first case of the illness. "The fact that these people have been here (Peruvians, Chileans and one Russian diagnosed with the flu upon return from visiting the DR) clearly indicates that the virus is going around, regardless of the fact that no one has been sick here in the country," said Bautista Rojas Gomez. In response, the minister did not dismiss the possibility that cases would be reported in the country within the next few days, and ordered increased epidemiological alertness, especially in the east of the country where the tourists who were diagnosed with the influenza had stayed. Rojas Gomez said it would not be surprising if the flu were present. The DR is a popular tourist destination with over four million annual visitors, many of whom come from the US, one of the countries worst affected by the virus.
The DR does not have a lab able to test for A(H1N1) and the samples that test positive for influenza at the Center of Dominican-Japanese Friendship (Cemadoja) then have to be sent to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia for testing for A(H1N1).
Rojas Gomez announced that the tests would soon be carried out in the DR and said that Public Health personnel would be receiving training from CDC delegates in conducting examinations with the PCR method using equipment that was donated by the world reference laboratory with the backing of the World Health Organization (WHO). Meanwhile, the principal of the Carol Morgan School in Santo Domingo told Diario Libre reporters that two students had tested positive for the Type A flu, but it is not known if it is the H1N1 strain. The samples were sent to the United States for additional tests, and the results will be known in three days. Classes at Carol Morgan have not been suspended.
Meanwhile, Governor Luis Fortuno of Puerto Rico has confirmed the first case of the virus. The infected person reportedly returned from a cruise on Sunday. The name of the cruise ship was not revealed.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
The DR does not have a lab able to test for A(H1N1) and the samples that test positive for influenza at the Center of Dominican-Japanese Friendship (Cemadoja) then have to be sent to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia for testing for A(H1N1).
Rojas Gomez announced that the tests would soon be carried out in the DR and said that Public Health personnel would be receiving training from CDC delegates in conducting examinations with the PCR method using equipment that was donated by the world reference laboratory with the backing of the World Health Organization (WHO). Meanwhile, the principal of the Carol Morgan School in Santo Domingo told Diario Libre reporters that two students had tested positive for the Type A flu, but it is not known if it is the H1N1 strain. The samples were sent to the United States for additional tests, and the results will be known in three days. Classes at Carol Morgan have not been suspended.
Meanwhile, Governor Luis Fortuno of Puerto Rico has confirmed the first case of the virus. The infected person reportedly returned from a cruise on Sunday. The name of the cruise ship was not revealed.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)