Swine Flu Detected in Nairobi?

I got a disturbing text last night which essentially said that there was a confirmed case of swine Flu detected at a clinic located at busy mall in the Westlands area of Nairobi.I chose to ignore it and not forward the message as it was appeared not to be based on fact and that it might be a case of rumour mongering. I chose wrong.

This morning I found several sms’s of a similar nature and  got worried. People were actually believing the contents of the sms. My relatives started bombarding me with questions related to the sms, of which I do not have the answer. The last straw was when my partner in life started calling her relatives and passing the same information as fact. This information has expectantly created a sense of uneasiness and what makes it worse is that it has not been based on fact.

With this in mind, I wanted to get some facts on this matter.If not facts , some information that can bring to light this story. I made several calls to reliable contacts who informed me ” off the record” that they were unhappy with the way this information has spread without dealing with the facts. In their view, this information has been creating some sense of panic amongst the wananchi.

The information given to me, which has not been verified, is that there was actually a  patient seen at the clinic and who fitted the criteria of a person who would required screening by the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MoPHS) team. This criteria is based on the guidelines the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation(MoPHS) had provided to all public hospitals and major private hospitals. This screening is routine and does not confirm that someone has swine flu.Unfortunately, I am informed, the information managed to reach the press even before the screening could be completed and thus the rumours and messages began. I am informed that preliminary tests have not revealed a positive finding of swine flu virus but further confirmatory tests have to be carried out .Therefore there is still no final confirmation of the results from screening this patient.

My advice is, let us all be calm and await formal response by the MoPHS and stop spreading information that can cause unecessary alarm.

In the meantime you can read my  earlier post on general information and precautions about swine Flu.

Have a safe weekend and stay healthy

Advertisement