Health Ministry Looks to Curb A/H1N1 During Water Festival

Written by DAP NEWS -- Monday, 12 October 2009

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Cambodia’s Health Ministry will take more measures in order to prevent the infections from A/H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, during Water Festival next month. The measures are necessary because of the large number of visitors to Phnom Penh from the provinces, a Health Ministry official told DAP News Cambodia on Saturday.

“The ministry is preparing to broaden awareness to the public over Water Festival as many people will attend this ceremony,” said Sok Touch, director of the MoH’s Communicable Diseases Control Department.

“If people suspect that they have this kind of flu, they have to avoid the crowds so as not to infect other people,” Sok Touch added.

The Health Minister this week confirmed third death from A/H1N1, a woman 7 months pregnant. Her baby daughter survived.

“The pregnant woman died after her operation as her illness condition was very serous,” Mom Bunheng told DAP News Cambodia on Tuesday. People with lung cancer, pregnancy, liver disease and conditions are more vulnerable to the virus, he added. The 25-year-old, Dub Sok Khunthea, was rushed to the hospital on September 29 and was operated on October 4.

At a press conference, the health minister stressed his grief at the deaths of all victims. He called on all Cambodians to prevent the virus and to avoid crowds in infected.

The health minister said Cambodia has so far seen 120 cases of A/H1N1.

According to the Health Ministry website, Phnom Penh, Kandal, Takeo, Siem Reap, Kampng Speu, and Battambang have all seen cases.

Cambodia confirmed the first case of A/H1N1 on June 24, 2009, a student with a US study group.

At least 4,525 people worldwide have been killed by the A/H1N1 influenza since the new flu virus was identified in April, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a latest update on Friday, according to the Xinhua news agency on Saturday.

Of the deaths, 3,292 occurred in the Americas, 480 in Southeast Asia and 410 in the West Pacific. The other three WHO regions, Europe, East Mediterranean and Africa reported 193, 80 and 70 deaths, respectively.

The WHO, which declared the A/H1N1 flu as a pandemic in June, said the total number of lab confirmed cases worldwide is now over 378,223, but this case count is significantly lower than the actual number of cases that have occurred because many countries have stopped testing and reporting individual cases.