Tweet
Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayA..._August534.xml
Oman Reports Two Deaths; Govt Schools to Reopen after Eid
22 August 2009
MUSCAT ? The Sultanate has reported the first two deaths from swine flu as the surging number of affected people prompted the government to delay reopening of state-run schools in the country by nearly a month.
Both the deceased are Omani men, the National Committee for Follow-up and Management of H1N1 said. The first death, of a 39-year-old patient, occurred at the Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah, and the second, of a 60-year-old man, at the Royal Hospital in Muscat.
The committee said the first person was suffering from a chronic cardiac illness, while in the second case, the patient suffered from hypertension, diabetes, chronic hepatitis and chickenpox. However, the Health Ministry denied reports that an Omani girl had died of swine flu infection in the southern Dhofar governorate.
The 17-year-old girl died following ?acute pneumonic inflammation?, a spokesman for the ministry said, adding that tests at the SQU Hospital laboratory were negative for H1N1. She was admitted in hospital on August 15 with symptoms of acute inflammation and died the next day, he added.
The Education Ministry, meanwhile, announced that all government and private schools following the Omani curriculum would now reopen after Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr holidays on September 26, instead of August 29 as previously declared. Expatriate schools have been given the option to take a decision in the matter according to the situation prevailing in their respe- ctive institutions.
Teaching and administrative staff in government schools will work during the period of closure to spearhead a nationwide programme to promote awareness among students about H1N1 and how it can be prevented, Dr Muna bint Salim bin Khalfan Al Jardaniyah, Education and Curricula Under-secretary at the Ministry of Education, told a joint Press conference with Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, the Health Affairs Under-secretary. ?They will be ready with awareness and training programmes for pupils when schools reopen,? Jaradaniyah said, adding that the students themselves would be better prepared to tackle the disease by that time.
A doctor will also be posted at every school to monitor students in cooperation with the Health Ministry, she said. She added that if a student was found infected, he or she would be given a seven-day leave. There are some 1,100 Omani schools in the country, accounting for more than 600,000 students.
Jardaniyah said expatriate schools following an international curriculum could take a decision whether or not to delay resumption of classes according to their discretion.
?They can decide on it in consultation with their authorities and depending on the situation in their respective schools,? she added.
The government-run Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), the Sultanate?s largest university with a student strength of around 17,000, said it would reopen on September 5 as originally scheduled.
A spokesman for SQU said it had ?equipped itself with all facilities to tackle the spread of H1N1 influenza.? He added a committee had been set up to control the spread of the disease and ?to make the students and staff aware of the symptoms and preventive measures.? The university has also started distributing notices and pamphlets to its employees and students in the various colleges and the SQU Hospital.
?The idea behind the formation of the committee is to prepare the staff and students to tackle a possible outbreak of Swine Flu among the university community,? the spokesman said.
Dr Zakaria Al Muharrmi, Acting Consultant in the Immunology Department of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, said a separate unit had been set up in the Microbiology Department for testing and confirmation of H1N1.
Since the first case of the disease was detected in the Sultanate at the end of June, the number of affected people has mounted to more than 550. Although a sizeable majority of them are nationals, the infection is now spreading fast among expatriates as well.
Authorities here predict the figure to continue to rise as thousands of people return home in the coming days after their holidays abroad. Families and friends gathering together and bigger crowds at shopping malls during Ramadan, coupled with pilgrims returning after Haj and Umrah with potential infections are expected to further compound the problem.
The outbreak prompted the largest Indian school in Oman ? Indian School Muscat ? to close for 10 days when several of its students contracted the disease within days of classes resuming after the summer vacation. A number of other Indian schools put off reopening of classes for primary class children.
The National Committee for Follow-up and Control of H1N1, in the meantime, said apart from the two cases of death, most of the patients diagnosed with the Swine Flu in the country had either fully recovered or were recovering after receiving treatment at home.
Very few patients had been hospitalised, the committee pointed out, adding that majority of the cases fell into the ?moderate? or ?minor? category and hence there was no need to panic.
It also made clear that H1N1 testing and treatment costs would be free both for Omanis and expatriates.
In a related development, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saidi, Health Ministry?s Undersecretary for Health Affairs, clarified that vaccines currently available were meant for seasonal flu, not for H1N1.
The vaccine against Swine Flu, he said was still under development and would be available by the end of the year. He also assured that in case a vaccine became available, it would not be used before ensuring its safety.
Oman Reports Two Deaths; Govt Schools to Reopen after Eid
22 August 2009
MUSCAT ? The Sultanate has reported the first two deaths from swine flu as the surging number of affected people prompted the government to delay reopening of state-run schools in the country by nearly a month.
Both the deceased are Omani men, the National Committee for Follow-up and Management of H1N1 said. The first death, of a 39-year-old patient, occurred at the Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah, and the second, of a 60-year-old man, at the Royal Hospital in Muscat.
The committee said the first person was suffering from a chronic cardiac illness, while in the second case, the patient suffered from hypertension, diabetes, chronic hepatitis and chickenpox. However, the Health Ministry denied reports that an Omani girl had died of swine flu infection in the southern Dhofar governorate.
The 17-year-old girl died following ?acute pneumonic inflammation?, a spokesman for the ministry said, adding that tests at the SQU Hospital laboratory were negative for H1N1. She was admitted in hospital on August 15 with symptoms of acute inflammation and died the next day, he added.
The Education Ministry, meanwhile, announced that all government and private schools following the Omani curriculum would now reopen after Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr holidays on September 26, instead of August 29 as previously declared. Expatriate schools have been given the option to take a decision in the matter according to the situation prevailing in their respe- ctive institutions.
Teaching and administrative staff in government schools will work during the period of closure to spearhead a nationwide programme to promote awareness among students about H1N1 and how it can be prevented, Dr Muna bint Salim bin Khalfan Al Jardaniyah, Education and Curricula Under-secretary at the Ministry of Education, told a joint Press conference with Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, the Health Affairs Under-secretary. ?They will be ready with awareness and training programmes for pupils when schools reopen,? Jaradaniyah said, adding that the students themselves would be better prepared to tackle the disease by that time.
A doctor will also be posted at every school to monitor students in cooperation with the Health Ministry, she said. She added that if a student was found infected, he or she would be given a seven-day leave. There are some 1,100 Omani schools in the country, accounting for more than 600,000 students.
Jardaniyah said expatriate schools following an international curriculum could take a decision whether or not to delay resumption of classes according to their discretion.
?They can decide on it in consultation with their authorities and depending on the situation in their respective schools,? she added.
The government-run Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), the Sultanate?s largest university with a student strength of around 17,000, said it would reopen on September 5 as originally scheduled.
A spokesman for SQU said it had ?equipped itself with all facilities to tackle the spread of H1N1 influenza.? He added a committee had been set up to control the spread of the disease and ?to make the students and staff aware of the symptoms and preventive measures.? The university has also started distributing notices and pamphlets to its employees and students in the various colleges and the SQU Hospital.
?The idea behind the formation of the committee is to prepare the staff and students to tackle a possible outbreak of Swine Flu among the university community,? the spokesman said.
Dr Zakaria Al Muharrmi, Acting Consultant in the Immunology Department of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, said a separate unit had been set up in the Microbiology Department for testing and confirmation of H1N1.
Since the first case of the disease was detected in the Sultanate at the end of June, the number of affected people has mounted to more than 550. Although a sizeable majority of them are nationals, the infection is now spreading fast among expatriates as well.
Authorities here predict the figure to continue to rise as thousands of people return home in the coming days after their holidays abroad. Families and friends gathering together and bigger crowds at shopping malls during Ramadan, coupled with pilgrims returning after Haj and Umrah with potential infections are expected to further compound the problem.
The outbreak prompted the largest Indian school in Oman ? Indian School Muscat ? to close for 10 days when several of its students contracted the disease within days of classes resuming after the summer vacation. A number of other Indian schools put off reopening of classes for primary class children.
The National Committee for Follow-up and Control of H1N1, in the meantime, said apart from the two cases of death, most of the patients diagnosed with the Swine Flu in the country had either fully recovered or were recovering after receiving treatment at home.
Very few patients had been hospitalised, the committee pointed out, adding that majority of the cases fell into the ?moderate? or ?minor? category and hence there was no need to panic.
It also made clear that H1N1 testing and treatment costs would be free both for Omanis and expatriates.
In a related development, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saidi, Health Ministry?s Undersecretary for Health Affairs, clarified that vaccines currently available were meant for seasonal flu, not for H1N1.
The vaccine against Swine Flu, he said was still under development and would be available by the end of the year. He also assured that in case a vaccine became available, it would not be used before ensuring its safety.