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No confirmation of swine flu cases
5/1/2009
By Nicholas Cox
THERE were no confirmed cases of swine flu in Barbados as of yesterday afternoon, but Government was still awaiting the results of tests on samples sent to Trinidad.
Prime Minister David Thompson updated the press on the local response to the spread of the flu after a special meeting yesterday afternoon where Cabinet was briefed the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Joy St. John and other health officials.
St. John revealed that as of yesterday afternoon, as opposed to some media reports, only one sample had been sent to the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) in Trinidad for testing, and said another was to be transported to Trinidad later in the day. She said while the Ministry had been in contact with CAREC, there had been no direct communication of the results. But, she expected that initial screening should have occurred yesterday afternoon and results provided late last night.
The Chief Medical Officer confirmed that CAREC was at the moment unable to carry out confirmatory tests for swine flu, being only equipped to screen for the influenza, and was awaiting kits to allow them to make confirmation. She said that the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) had addressed the deficiencies of CAREC when questioned this Tuesday, “And they had indicated that they would have the correct arrangements and the kits sent to CAREC by this time. But, when I checked with the PAHO/World Heath Organisation (WHO) representative this afternoon, she said that the kits had not arrived in Trinidad as yet, so they’re not doing the confirmatory tests.” Indications were that CAREC would not be able to do confirmatory tests until next week, St. John said.
“They are, however, sending on the samples that do test positive for their initial screening process to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), who have promised, so I have been told, to return the results within one day of receiving them,” St. John said.
However, she was unsure how long it would take for these samples to travel from Trinidad to the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia. She also declined to say where the patients that were being tested may have been exposed to the virus and noted that we were on a brink of a pandemic and she did not want to create panic. She therefore advised Barbadians to be prudent about where they travel and to keep informed about countries where swine flu has been found.
Follow Ministry advice
Thompson expressed confidence in how the situation was being handled by the Ministry of Health, noting, “I have trusted the judgement of the public health officials in Barbados ... and I believe that Barbadians need to know that our job is not to conceal the truth. If there is information that is relevant for public consumption and to assist in dealing with this potential crisis, then we’ll make it available.” He noted that there were always suspicions in situations such as this one, but criticised sensationalism and charged the relevant officials with providing timely information to the public.
“I am quite satisfied that the Ministry of Health, so far, has done an excellent job in putting the procedures in place, both in making contact at the international level with the WHO, PAHO, regional counterparts within the Caribbean. And, the monitoring systems that are in place, I believe have kept us abreast with the situation in a real time basis, and I have every confidence that the Ministry of Health has the situation under control,” the Prime Minister said. He further explained that strategies were being developed to contain and eliminate any potential spread of the virus in Barbados if necessary. “It is very important for Barbadians to pay attention to the advice given to us by the Ministry of Health,” he said.
Thompson noted concerns that there was a clear public sector strategy to combat the virus, but a lack of one for the private sector. To this end, he said there is to be a meeting of the Social Partnership planned for Tuesday to focus on this issue. Furthermore, he said Government had created a sub-group of Cabinet to address the issues of security and health which will meet with the Ministry of Health on a regular basis. This meeting is set to take place early in the week, so that Cabinet can be fully briefed on developments by Thursday.
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