ID :
70284
Tue, 07/14/2009 - 13:30
Auther :

CIREBON ON ALERT FOR SWINE FLU

Cirebon, Indonesia, July 14 (ANTARA) - Hospitals and clinics in Cirebon, West Java, have been put on alert for possible outbreak of the swine flu virus H1N1, local health office spokesperson dr Kaptiningsih said on Tuesday.

"We are warning the Gunungjati General Hospital and other clinics to be on alert for possible H1N1 outbreak," Kaptiningsih told newsmen here on Tuesday.

To anticipate a spread of the H1N1 virus in Cirebon, she said the local health office has distributed around 5,000 tablets of tamiflu to 21 clinics in the city of Cirebon, as the tamiflu tablets which had been distributed earlier to the clinics have expired and would soon be withdrawn.

Kaptiningsih said that a Cirebon resident, identified by his initial AF, has just returned from Malaysia and was suspected to carry H1N1 but he has now recovered.

"AF has just participated in a seminar in Malaysia but was suspected to have been infected with H1N1 and put in quarantine there. Now he is well and returned to Cirebon," Kaptiningsih said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said in Jakarta recently that the number of influenza A (H1N1) or swine flue cases in Indonesia has increased by 24 and brought the total number of sufferers to 52.

Of the 24 new cases, three were foreigners, and the rest were Indonesian nationals, who mostly had made overseas trips recently, namely to Malaysia, Australia, the United States, Thailand, Singapore and China, she said. Only two patients were not known how they had contracted the virus.

According to Kaptiningsih, the people with weak physical condition and unhealthy lifestyle were susceptible to H1N1.

Therefore, she urged the people in Cirebon to get accustomed to a healthy lifestyle and if they had flu, they should not underestimate it but immediately have their condition checked at the nearest clinic.

But she added that the people should not worry about H1N1 because it is curable and not as dangerous as bird flu.***


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