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Thursday, July 5, 2012

INFLUENZA - MBDS REGION (04): MYANMAR (IRRAWADDY)



A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Wed 27 Jun 2012
Source: 7Day News Journal [in Myanmar, trans. Mod.YMA, edited]
http://www.thithtoolwin.com/2012/06/blog-post_1643.html

In Maubin Town of Irrawaddy Region, about 20 students from Saint Rita catholic church had nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and fever, and were admitted to the hospital. On 24 Jun 2012, a 16-year-old child got sick and the infection was transmitted overnight to other 17 children in the church. They were urgently admitted to hospital, according to a humanitarian worker to 7Day News.

A health care worker from Maubin said that most of the children had an influenza-like illness with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, and fever. However the symptoms vary in each individual.

U Tun Myint, head of Maubin Township Hospital, said, "It is seasonal influenza. The children have fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. There is nothing to worry about. As the church is a boarding school, the transmission occurred very rapidly. Some children will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow [28 Jun 2012]. A total of 20 children were admitted in our hospital."

Among the 115 students in the catholic school, about 60 children are infected.

The school is closed for a week and entrance to the nearby areas is not allowed. Preventive and control measures have been implemented in the area, according to a resident from Maubin Township.

-- Communicated by: PRO/MBDS

[The influenza outbreak in Maubin Township has spread to 60 children in a short period. However, the type of influenza infection is not mentioned in the newswire above. Influenza surveillance should be maintained and the pandemic preparedness and response plans for pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 should be updated according to the seasonal trends of influenza infection. Recently, 41 suspected cases of pandemic H1N1 2009 infection were reported from a local hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand (see prior PRO/MBDS posting Influenza - MBDS region (03): Thailand (Nakhon Ratchasima), H1N1 20120623.1404).

For a map of Myanmar with administrative divisions, see http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/myanmar_map2.htm. A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Myanmar can be seen at http://healthmap.org/r/2H4V. - Mod.YMA]  http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120704.1518