– Minister Ramsammy
THREE new H1N1 cases were confirmed last week, taking the total number to 12 in this country.

But, presently, the Health Ministry’s pressing concern is the fact that some private laboratories are misrepresenting their capacity to test for the virus, the Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy told a media briefing on Saturday.

He said, during the week, two persons approached the Ministry with positive H1N1 test results.

“The Ministry is not aware that such capacity exists in the private sector,” Ramsammy pointed out.

He said he is certain of that, as the equipment necessary for testing requires Ministry of Health approval and, to date, no private facility has requested it.

“A private laboratory that offers to test for H1N1 is a fraud,” Ramsammy declared.

He said the Ministry taking actions to prevent the dishonest acts and letters have been sent to the laboratories.

Ramsammy acknowledged that the Private Sector has contributed greatly to development in the Health Sector over the years but said, in the quest to increase profitability, has erred by engaging in less than acceptable activities.

However, he said the Private Sector has worked with the Ministry in the past to correct such actions and he expressed the hope that, this time round, the private facilities will, once more, express a willingness to right the wrongs.

Cheated
In addition, Ramsammy said checks are being carried out at private healthcare delivery centres to ensure that Guyanese are not being cheated.

Towards that objective, he encouraged the public to assist in the Health Ministry as it cannot monitor the Private Sector 24 hours daily.

Ramsammy, calling for cooperation, said the public should be aware that private facilities cannot do the test and Guyanese must not let themselves be asked to pay for such a test.

He said all H1N1 tests are done at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory which sends specimens to the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC).

Ramsammy said, to date, approximately 120 specimens have been sent for testing, leading to the 12 confirmations.

Of the 12, three of the patients do not live in Guyana and most of the others have been linked to international contacts, as the cause of their infection, he reported.

Ramsammy said, presently, there is little evidence of indigenous circulation of the H1N1 virus but cautioned that Guyana is fast approaching the flu season, which corresponds with the seasons in the United States (U.S.) and Europe.

Predictions
According to him, predictions by the World Health Organisation (WHO) are that some one million people will be infected during that time.

“We will be under severe threat,” he warned.

“So vigilance must be maintained.”

The H1N1 is a virus with symptoms similar to that of seasonal flu, such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headaches, chills and fatigue.

Like seasonal flu, severe illness and death have occurred as a result of sicknesses associated with H1N1.

About a vaccine to combat H1N1, Ramsammy said his Ministry is following the development and will acquire it as soon as it is available.

Meanwhile, he said the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and his Ministry have taken steps to obtain equipment to boost Guyana’s capacity for analysing H1N1 specimens.

He said an $8M investment will facilitate local DNA tests of specimens on an open platform, meaning testing for a variety of things and that should be possible before November month-end.