Kenya urges calm over flu case

A British medical student on Sunday became the first person to test positive for the deadly swine flu virus in Kenya.

Doctors and health authorities said the case is not severe and he is not in any immediate danger.

They also said the strain he has is “mild” and, apart from children under the age of two, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, a healthy person who becomes infected need not even be hospitalised.

The student is in a group of 35 from the University of Nottingham College of Medicine in the UK, and came to Kenya a week ago for a field trip to the KEMRI-CDC laboratory in Kisumu.

Doctors were on Monday protecting his identity, but it was established that he arrived via the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on June 2, and later travelled 350 kilometres by bus to Kisumu. He is currently being isolated at the Duke of Breeze Hotel in Kisumu’s Ogada Street.

The 20-year-old student’s girlfriend back in the UK fell ill four days before he did. When the student started feeling unwell on Saturday, he went to hospital.

The University of Nottingham is hard hit by swine flu with 13 students confirmed to have the bug, according to the Nottingham Evening Post.

The area where the university is located, East Midlands, is seriously affected, with 14 cases confirmed in a single day last week bringing the total cases in that region to 63.

Many more are suspected to have it but the authorities were treating but not testing every patient.

“If we have a student from Nottingham with flu-like symptoms, we call that a probable case,” the newspaper quoted Dr Richard Slack of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) saying.

In Nairobi, British High Commission spokesperson Charley Williams said: “The student realised that he had some flu-like symptoms on Saturday and immediately sought medical assistance”.

Doctors said the patient’s illness is mild and that he does not need to be hospitalised. He is, however, being closely monitored by doctors along with the rest of the group, all whom have tested negative for the virus.

Doctors said more cases are expected in Kenya because the student came into contact with many people before he was diagnosed and isolated.

The latest swine flu outbreak, which started in Mexico two months ago, has already infected 70,893 people in 112 countries. Described as a pandemic three weeks ago, the disease has killed 311 people, according to the latest information from the World Health Organisation.

The statistics do not include the Kenyan case. Other countries in Africa, such as South Africa and Egypt, have reported cases. In Britain 4,000 have tested positive for the flu virus, as have 29,000 in the US.

The group of British students was to stay in Kenya for two weeks, Ms Williams said. It’s unclear when the medical authorities will allow them to leave.

“They should stay where they are to avoid putting the public at risk,” she said.

On Monday Nyanza Provincial director of public health Dr Jackson Kioko said: “We confirmed the case yesterday (Sunday). It is a mild form of the influenza. It is not as severe as the cases in Mexico and the USA.”

The patient was not seriously ill, he said, and was “was up and about”.

Doctors have been flown from Nairobi to help their Kisumu colleagues monitor and manage the case.

Medical authorities are now working backwards to determine the places the student visited and the people he may have interacted with.

Kenyan health officials joined the quest for answers.

“We have embarked on tracing any contacts that the student has made in Kenya. If any of the contacts exhibit flu like symptoms, they will be tested and if found positive they will be appropriately managed,” said minister of Public Health and Sanitation Beth Mugo at a press conference on Monday.

Swine flu is caused by a virus called H1N1. WHO declared swine flu a pandemic after 141 deaths and 27,737 cases were reported in 74 countries.

Mrs Mugo said confirmation of the virus was made by the Kenya Medical Research Institute and National Influenza Centre laboratories after the student was examined in Kisumu.

“His samples were taken at a local facility before they were flown to Nairobi for testing on Sunday,” Mrs Mugo said.

Swine flu, like most other influenza viruses, has a short incubation period. The time between infection and the onset of symptoms is about two days, but could be as many as four. This is the most dangerous stage, because patients are most likely to transmit the disease without knowing they have it.

The British student reported symptoms two days after arriving in Kenya. Mrs Mugo said the group will be under observation for up to five days.

“Swine flu is a relatively mild illness, and therefore there should be no cause for panic. In a majority of cases, the disease does not require hospitalisation and it’s most likely that there will be more cases of H1N1 in Kenya,” she said.

A statement on the website of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the flu has not been found to be any more severe than ordinary seasonal flu. However, just like any other flu, it is most dangerous to children below age two, old people and those with chronic illnesses.

Since early this year, global health authorities had upped screening for swine flu, with tests carried out on people coming from the most affected countries including Mexico, the epicentre of the pandemic, the US, Canada and Mexico. The UK has had more than 4,000 cases confirmed and more than 29,000 in the United States.

However, several people who have passed through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport recently say they have not seen any evidence of such surveillance.

“I passed the airport about a two weeks ago, and there was no evidence of any medical screening going on unlike in Entebbe Uganda where there is a well defined swine flu surveillance desk and personnel in masks and medical apparels,” said Rachel Jones, a media consultant from the US.

At a meeting in Kenyatta National Hospital late last evening, the management discussed among other things whether to distribute masks at the hospital, but worried this could cause panic.

On Monday, Mrs Mugo said the government has more than 50,000 doses of Tamiflu, which is used to treat the disease.

“Patients with flu-like illness should seek medical care especially those with other chronic diseases,” she said. “As of now, the most effective preventive measures are good hygiene practices which should include frequent washing of hands with soap, covering mouth and nose with disposable tissue, avoiding touching of eyes, nose and mouth.”

The minister urged all health workers and members of the public to remain vigilant and provide any information about suspected cases on the following telephone numbers: National Surveillance Unit 0722 331 548; 020 204 0542 and 2718292 e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]; NIC-Kemri laboratory: 0736 155 251; 0733 616 602 and 0722 675 335 or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport 0721 562 511.

Reported by Walter Menya, Gatonye Gathura and Mike Mwaniki