ID :
73364
Sat, 08/01/2009 - 20:09
Auther :

SOME 3,500 TAMIFLU TABLETS DISTRIBUTED TO DENPASAR HOSPITALS

Denpasar, Indonesia, Aug 1 (ANTARA) - To anticipate the spread of influenza type A (H1N1) or swine flu, some 3,500 tamiflu tablets have been distributed to hospitals and clinics in Denpasar.

"We have distributed around 3,500 tamiflu tablets to all hospitals and clinics in Denpasar to anticipate the spread of H1N1 virus in the city," local health office spokesperson Luh Sri Armini said here on Saturday.

Sri Armini said the swine-flu mortality rate was relatively low and the persons infected with the virus were able to recover sooner, but it was better for those who had the symptoms to immediately have their health examined by doctors in hospitals, and follow a healthy life style.

Besides distributing tamiflu to hospitals and clinics in Denpasar, Sri Armini said, public health officer had also been actively familiarizing people about swine flu and providing them with information on the way how to prevent H1N1 virus from spreading.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on Wednesday last week reported 28 new type-A influenza (H1N1) or swine flu cases which brought the total number of sufferers in Indonesia to 444, including one fatality.

The ministry said the 28 new cases happened in seven provinces, namely Jakarta (13 ), East Java (5 ), Yogyakarta (3), West Javat (3), Banten (2), Bali (1), and North Sulawesi (1).

The 28 swine flu-infected people are Indonesian nationals, and four of them had earlier traveled to Singapore and Thailand.

The health ministry's Director General of Disease Control and Sanitation, Tjandra Yoga Aditama, said swine flu had now made victims in 15 provinces, namely Bali, Banten, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Kalimantan, Riau Island, North Sulawesi, South Sumatera, North Sumatera, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, and Jambi.

He said swine flu spreads fast because the virus was communicated from human to human through direct contact, coughing or items touched by infected people.

The disease could be fatal but globally the number of deaths due to the type-A influenza was still very small, namely 0.4 percent. In Indonesia, of the total 444 cases, only one person had died so far, he said.***


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