RIYADH: The Ministry of Health has requested passengers who flew with the Filipino nurse infected with H1N1 virus to contact its hot lines to ensure they are not carrying the virus.
Announcing that it has not registered any new swine flu case following the discovery of the infected woman — a nurse at Riyadh’s King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center — the Ministry of Health appealed yesterday to passengers who have not responded to its telephone calls to contact its Primary Health Care Center by telephone on 01 4875511-01 Ext No. 333, 391 and 392. These lines will be open from 8 a.m. till 11 p.m. on all working days.
A senior official at the Ministry of Health said that only 90 passengers of Gulf Air flight 163 that came to Riyadh from Bahrain on May 29 have responded to the ministry's telephone calls. “A total of 82 passengers are currently getting preventive treatment from hospitals and clinics throughout the Kingdom, while eight passengers are yet to come,” he said. He also added that the passengers who have been in contact with the ministry were proven not to carry the disease. The official added that the ministry has given the passengers necessary preventive doses against the disease.
He explained that thermal cameras at the airport detect cases of swine flu when those affected have fevers. The official requested that any person who has fever after returning from a country where there has been cases of swine flu should volunteer for testing.
The official pointed out that the incubation period for passengers on board the Gulf Air flight ended yesterday. “Therefore, they do not become a possible source of transmitting the disease,” he said. Chief of the Department of Infectious Diseases at KFSHRC Abdullah Al-Hokail told Arab News that clinical examinations showed yesterday that the infected nurse had recovered. He, however, added that the authorities would keep her under observation for some more time. “The others, including her own family members who were kept under observation, have not shown any signs of the virus so far," he said, adding that they will be released shortly as soon as clinical reports are completed.
