15 H1N1 cases confirmed

By Daniel Nonor
At a time when the country has its hands filled with an overwhelming outbreak of the deadly cholera pandemic, there have been fresh recorded cases of the H1N1 influenza at the Achimota Hospital.

Confirming the story to The Chronicle yesterday, Mr. Michael Garr, Head of Disease Control Unit at the Achimota Hospital, said the hospital had recorded 15 new cases, 11 from the St. John's Grammar Senior High School, with the rest of the cases drawn from Tesano, Achimota, Alogboshie and Mile 7.

According to him, information had been sent to the Ga West District Assembly to intensify education on the disease.

He explained that the hospital was able to detect the cases, because it has an Influenza Unit where all forms of influenza cases are probed.

The first cases of the H1N1 influenza were recorded by the Ghana Health Service in Ghana in August 2009.

The upsurge of cases was then attributed to an outbreak at the Lincoln Community School in Accra.

The outbreak is said to have began in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, with evidence that there had been an ongoing epidemic for months before it was officially recognised as such.

The Mexican government at the time, closed most of Mexico City's public and private facilities in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus, however, it continued to spread globally, and clinics in some areas were overwhelmed by reported cases.