The Ministry of Public Health warns the public that there is an increase in the incidence of influenza in the country. The AH1N1 strain is spreading. Four deaths have been confirmed of the 98,909 cases reported to the Ministry of Public Health.
Raquel Pimentel, director of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health, stressed the importance of preventing the sickness by limiting its expansion by taking measures such as the sneezing into the bend of the elbow, not the hand. Sneezing into the arm is being encouraged as one of the better ways to avoid the spreading of droplets from sneezing and coughing. When sneezing into the hands, these droplets can be passed on to doorknobs, elevator buttons and other surfaces people regularly touch. Vulnerable persons with flu symptoms should seek medical care.
The Ministry of Public Health also reported one death attributed to diphtheria, a Haitian child in El Chucho, Los Alcarrizos in northern Santo Domingo. The child, four year old Wender Vicente, had arrived in the Dominican Republic on 21 March and according to his mother, 29 year old Sheyla Filguera, he seemed to be in good health. However the following day he had a fever and he was taken to hospital on the Friday where he was admitted to intensive care being unable to breathe. He died on Sunday 25 March.
The Ministry of Public Health subsequently issued an epidemiology alert and asked all parent to make sure that their children have received the correct diphtheria vaccination protocol that consists of three doses before the age of one year, a booster at 18 months and another shot at aged four. Those who have not received this battery of shots should go to a health clinic or hospital to be vaccinated.
A growing number of Haitians frequently travel back and forth from Haiti to the Dominican Republic. There is an outbreak of diphtheria in Haiti. Many residents are concerned that a highly mobile population may bring the diphtheria virus into their community. To prevent the spread of diphtheria, the Ministry carried out vaccination program in the area on Sunday, 25 March 2018.
The Ministry has said there is no need for alarm in the general population, and that there is sufficient supplies of the vaccine. Those who have been vaccinated have nothing to fear, early diagnosis of diphtheria would mean there is no risk of death and that the child who died was only diagnosed with diphtheria clinically and the results of laboratory tests are not yet available.
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Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
27 March 2018
