Panama's Ministry of Health Testing American For Swine Flu
By ANA TERESA BENJAMÍN for La Prensa - The Ministry of Health confirmed yesterday the detection of a 32 year-old American citizen who is suspected of having influenza type A. Panama's Health Minister Rosario Turner said the man "escaped" from the Santo Tomas hospital after the first tests came back positive for Influenza type A, but the man was found again and placed under medical observation in order to conduct additional testing. She explained that the Gorgas Institute will be conducting more specific tests to determine if the virus detected is either the normal seasonal flu or the more dangerous subtype H1N1 causing fears of a pandemic. At press time the results of the tests being conducted by the Gorgas Institute were not yet known.
Editor's Comment: This guy became instantly famous in Panama as the "sick gringo who escaped from Santo Tomas." He was taken back to the hospital by health authorities and he will remain there, under guard if necessary, until the possibility that he might have Swine Flu has been ruled out. Panama is taking their responsibilities in this very seriously, and while it might be impossible to keep the genie in the bottle for very long, at least they are trying. Here's reality - the incubation period from exposure to the development of symptoms for this virus is about two days, so anyone who is infected today won't exhibit symptoms until Monday. That kinda makes it harder to check passengers coming through Tocumen, right? I mean, literally everyone on the plane might have been exposed to and be developing the virus, but not one of them will be showing symptoms (yet). Whatever, at least this guy will have some nice vacation pictures, taken from the inside of the Santo Tomas hospital.
Minsa evalúa posible caso de virus A en estadounidense
ANA TERESA BENJAMÍN
abenjamin@prensa.com
El Ministerio de Salud confirmó ayer que se detectó a un estadounidense de 32 años con síntomas sospechosos de tener influenza del tipo A.
La ministra de Salud, Rosario Turner, informó que el hombre se fugó del Hospital Santo Tomás luego de que se le practicara una primera prueba que dio positivo por influenza A, pero fue nuevamente localizado y puesto bajo observación médica para nuevos exámenes.
Explicó que el Gorgas está haciendo pruebas más específicas para confirmar si el virus A hallado corresponde a la influenza estacionaria –que se presenta en esta época– o a la del subtipo H1N1 o gripe pandémica.
Al cierre de esta edición no se conocían los resultados de las pruebas que analiza el Gorgas.
