H1N1 victims doing well (Page 3)

THE H1N1 influenza which has so far affected eight persons in the country is under control, according to the Director of Public Health, Dr Joseph Amankwah.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr Amankwah stressed that the health sector was well equipped to handle the current situation but was quick to add that everything possible must be done to contain it else “we find ourselves in a serious situation like other countries”.
Touching on the eighth and the latest victim of the disease to be recorded in the country, Dr Amankwah said she was a six-year-old girl who joined a relation abroad and returned to Ghana with the virus.
The director said because the condition of the girl was not severe she was being treated at home where the rest of her family were observed.
The first two people to have contracted the disease in Ghana were kept at a hospital but five others who were members of a family were quarantined in their own home where treatment was administered. All seven patients have successfully been treated.
Dr Amankwah explained that health professionals who were made to visit the homes of people infected with the H1N1 influenza were provided with protective clothing to protect themselves from contracting the disease.
In addition, he said family members who lived and cared for such people were also taken care of by health professionals.
Although there is no vaccine against the virus at the moment, Dr Amankwah said the disease could be prevented from spreading by ensuring frequent hand washing with soap and staying away from people who presented symptoms of influenza.
He also asked Ghanaians to observe social etiquette by covering their mouths when coughing and their noses when sneezing to contain the spread of the virus.
He said since the H1N1 influenza had similar symptoms like ordinary cold, people should report to the nearest health facility when they suffered from any of such symptoms for early diagnosis and treatment.
Dr Amankwah reiterated the fact that there was no cause for alarm and pointed out that medicines to treat the disease had been sent from the national head office to the regional and district directorates for use in the communities should any one get the disease.
He added that there were also protective kits for use by health workers in those areas if the need arise.
Throwing more light on the issue, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, said now that Ghana had not recorded any local incident of the disease, all efforts should be made to control it.
He also added his voice to the fact that the situation was not alarming and called on the public not to panic but rather take measures to protect themselves.