Italian's swine flu symptoms ups concern in Nepal

KATHMANDU, May 20: An Italian woman traveling to Tibet from Nepal has been suspected of swine flu, raising concern among Nepali authorities on a day when the number of swine flu cases recorded by the World Health Organization rose by more than 1,001 to 9,830. [break]

Italian woman who entered Tibet from Nepal diagnosed with swine flu

The Italian, who arrived in Nepal on May 12 and stayed at a Kathmandu hotel for four nights before checking out May 16 to leave for Tibet with a group of 23 others, was kept under observation in the Tibetan town of Zhangmu after showing symptoms of swine flu while crossing the border.

The Associated Press quoting a Chinese Health Ministry statement reported Tuesday that initial tests on Monday showed her positive for H1N1, the strain of the virus which causes swine flu.

“We have not received anything official about the case yet, but we are prepared for the worst and doing our best to curb the menace,” coordinator of the Avian Influenza Control Project Dr Manas Kumar Banerjee said.

“Since it is not a confirmed case yet, there is no reason to panic,” Dr Banerjee assures and advises people to take basic precautions like covering the mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing and washing hands regularly as per the public awareness advisory issued by the Health Ministry.

He says that the virus cannot survive for more than 48 hours without a host and hence there is no question of disinfecting the concerned hotel now. “We will contact the hotel and try to trace if any other person who stayed there in the period in question has developed symptoms of flu,” Dr Banerjee added.

It is very difficult to go with the general symptoms of flu in this flu season, so the focus, Dr Banerjee says, will be to look for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) that is life-threatening.

The incubation period for the virus is seven days and Dr Banerjee believes that the Italian woman may therefore have escaped the surveillance at Tribhuvan International Airport. “There is a strong possibility that even if it is actually swine flu, she may have caught the virus outside Nepal. We have to ensure that we get to persons who may have got it from her,” Dr Banerjee explains.

The worrying aspect, however, is that there is no equipment in Nepal for testing the H1N1 virus. “We had received equipment from the Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia in the US yesterday (Monday), but we returned it as it was not compatible with mechanisms here. We can receive the compatible version only in the next seven days,” Dr Banerjee says.

But there is a big positive development in that WHO estimates production of 4.9 billion doses of swine flu vaccine a year would be possible.

WHO is counting on an output of 94.3 million doses a week if full scale production is launched, AFP said citing a presentation made by WHO to pharmaceutical companies at a meeting in Geneva.

The Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis said it had received samples of the new A(H1N1) virus and was awaiting the UN health agency´s go ahead to begin producing a vaccine.

About 30 vaccine makers from 19 industrialized and developing countries were invited by WHO to the one-hour meeting to discuss production of a vaccine against swine flu.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday told WHO´s 193 member states that the world must remain "vigilant and alert" against the new swine flu virus.

Ban said previous pandemics had shown that outbreaks of flu could start as mild and then worsen. "That is why the world must remain vigilant and alert to the warning signs," he added in a speech to WHO´s annual assembly.

premdhakal@myrepublica.com