KUMACA Swine Flu Under Control – Health Director

The Ashanti Regional Health Director, Dr. Emmanuel Kwadwo Tinkorang, has given the assurance that the Influenza Type A (swine flu) outbreak at the Kumasi Academy Senior High School (KUMACA) was now under control.

He therefore called for calm, saying there was no cause for any public anxiety.

Four students died of the flu and 81 others fell sick and had to receive treatment at the hospital.

Eleven (11) of them are still on admission – five at the Kumasi South, three at KNUST hospital, two at Manhyia and one at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

Dr. Tinkorang said he expected normal school activities would resume as soon as counselors brought in to provide the school community with psychological counselling were done with their job.

Speaking at a sensitization programme on the flu held for journalists in Kumasi, he said he was confident no student in the school was going to catch the infection.

The programme was meant to help the media to correctly report on the flu, avoid sensationalism and misinformation that could create fear and panic among the people.

Seven students of the SHS had in April, been killed by cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) and Dr. Tinkorang said although they were yet to establish why the same school should be hit by these infections within a space of about seven months, the two were unrelated.

He identified symptoms of the flu as fever, cough, headache, sore throat, muscle aches, runny nose, nausea, diarrhoea, shortness of breath, joint pains and chills.

Source: GNA