Medical Research Institute Consultant Dr. Jude Jayamaha, an expert on viral diseases said that there has been an increase in the number of patients infected with the influenza A strain these days.
He said that the subtype of influenza reported among individuals is H1 and that it has been confirmed through PCR tests done.
He made this comment yesterday (18) while participating in the press conference held at the Health Promotion Bureau.
He said that the influenza virus may emerge as a global pandemic from time to time and the growth of this virus takes place as a result of rainy weather and that the low temperature in the morning and the cold temperature in the night also directly affects the growth of the virus.
He also said that every month the nurses of the hospital’s infection control unit send sputum samples taken from the nose and throat of 30 patients visiting the outpatient departments based on 19 hospitals covering all provinces, to the epidemiology department and the research laboratories of the Colombo Medical Research Institute.
It is tested whether influenza subtypes A, B, AH1N1, H3N2 are detected by PCR. He said that they are undergoing tests and that these tests have been done together with the World Health Organization for about 15 years.
He said that more cases of influenza are reported during the period from December to February and from April to June and if a healthy person is infected with this virus, he will recover naturally after three to four days.
He also said that pregnant mothers, children under two years of age, the elderly, and those suffering from chronic diseases are at risk through contracting this virus.
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