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Peru has now 16 confirmed cases of AH1N1 influenza

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Peru's Ministry of Health issued a statement informing that the confirmed cases of AH1N1 influenza in the country are now 16, after the confirmation of 11 new cases.

The ministry says that 8 out of the 11 new cases are actually high school students, who returned from a school trip to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic).

Another student came back from Argentina.

According to the ministry, the patients are under antiviral treatment and in quarantine at their homes, with a good prognosis since they were treated on time.

A total of 18 schools have suspended classes temporarily as a precaution to avoid the spreading of the virus.

Recently adopted regulations state that travelers arriving in Peruvian airports must declare if they have the H1N1 flu symptoms or not.

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# pedro says :
May 22, 2009 [ 12:40 ]

"travelers arriving in Peruvian airports must declare if they have the H1N1 flu symptoms or not"

OK, this is becoming laughable. A few weeks ago we had some minister boldly proclaiming that H1N1 won't appear in Peru because they had medical experts (haha) monitoring incoming travelers. Now travelers are being asked to diagnose themselves? What???? This kind of statement (unless it was translated badly) basically acknowledges that those "experts" don't have a clue!

16 (and counting) cases in a country like Peru is alarming not just because there's absolutely very little or no medical facilities/knowledge to contain this kind of thing, but more because when you have an ignorant government and population that seems to always want to believe that they somehow know/have something that the rest of the world doesn't. The perfect environment for this flu spreading itself widely throughout a country.

# pedro says :
May 22, 2009 [ 12:45 ]

More idiocy: by issuing the statement "travelers arriving in Peruvian airports must declare if they have the H1N1 flu symptoms or not", they in effect saying that they believe that people who have been diagnosed with the flu somewhere in the world are still being allowed to travel anyway... LMAO!

# Rene says :
May 22, 2009 [ 18:11 ]

Pedro, you misunderstand the statement you're critisizing. H1N1 flu symptoms are things like coughing, sneezing, fever etc. You can determine yourself if you have anything like that. That does not require you to actually have the H1N1 flu nor being diagnosed as such. And this method is used in many countries, such as Australia. The question is of course how honest people will be with fear of being quarantined, but that's why they also do body heat scanning. Although the latter may not be in place in Peru.

And about the minister, he stated that they are prepared to treat people and that nobody in Peru will die from this flu. He never stated that the flu would not come into the country. But I do share your concern over the level of preparedness to contain it. And I wonder what this minister will do when there will be a fatality caused by this flu. Will he take responsibility and step down? Probably not ...

# M Luki says :
May 23, 2009 [ 1:07 ]

More people died in Cusco from the cold this year than will die from H1N1, the Mexican Flu.

# pedro says :
May 23, 2009 [ 6:23 ]

Rene, you are right and I apologize for that, though I am sure I read a claim that the virus was not going to come to Peru. It may have been a bad translation that got fixed or maybe it was from someone commenting.

It's still pretty worrying though, with some of the traditions practiced in Peru giving an open invitation for H1N1 and just about any other harmful disease: overdone kissing on cheeks, sharing a beer glass among dozens of people at a party, etc. Nevermind that many also think keeping hands clean is not a necessity.

As for the statement I refered to, I have to say that it still comes across exactly as it's written: they're expecting people to somehow know if they're infected. I can of course see travelers being questioned on whether or not they show symptoms of X, Y, or Z, but that's not at all the way the statement reads: "travelers arriving in Peruvian airports must declare if they have the H1N1 flu symptoms or not"

Cheers, and thanks for the correction.

# pedro says :
May 23, 2009 [ 6:35 ]

M Luki, yes, that's true and in fact a shame. One difference is that dying from the cold is preventable and also not something that requires a country to basically close its borders and issue urgent health alerts, while H1N1 is still an unknown regarding many things.

I don't know why you also felt the need to label it as a "Mexican" flu, as if we should be pointing the finger of blame at one country rather than our own in possibly failing to contain the spread.

It's recently been suspected that this particular strain of flu has been around for at least about 10 years already, we just didn't realize it until now, nor do we know where it really originated from. We do know that swine-based viruses are created from unsanitary care of livestock and Mexico is hardly the worst (or only) offender of this. I won't mention in which other countries I've seen, with my own eyes, a sad neglect for cattle and swine, and even poultry.

# Rene says :
May 23, 2009 [ 16:57 ]

Pedro, as often it is simply a matter of interpretation. The passengers are asked to declare having H1N1 flu symptoms assisted by a form that will list all the symptoms the officials are looking for. The passengers do not need to know all the symptoms and I don't think this article needs to elaborate on which symptoms those are either.

# Cody says :
June 24, 2009 [ 20:59 ]

Hi everyone, a friend of a friend has been diagnosed with H1N1 in Lima, Peru and I was wondering if treatment is out of pocket expense for the patient or whether financial funding is available for Peruvians.

Any information would be a big help.  Thanks

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