The Ministry of Health has issued a statement over the spike in cases of respiratory diseases in various parts of the country which reports attributed to Covid-19.
Director General of Health Patrick Amoth in a March 28, 2024, statement announced that tests carried out from various patients in different listed sites confirmed that the disease is Influenza and not a Covid-19 variant as earlier reported in some quarters.
The Ministry confirmed that the pathogens monitored had a high potential to cause epidemic flu such as SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), influenza virus, and other pathogens that are implicated in upper and lower respiratory infections.
“None of these sites reported an increase in the numbers of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID 19) but, instead, increased cases of influenza have been reported. We have observed the occurrence of cases throughout the year with an upsurge of cases in two peaks, February to March and July to November,” read part of the statement.
Following the tests, the Ministry sought to clarify to the public that the current increase in numbers is in line with the expected cases of influenza at this time of the year.
Dr Amoth further stated that the findings were concluded based on the Ministry’s robust surveillance system that monitors the emergence and spread of flu and other pathogens of national, regional, and global concern.
MoH rules out Covid-19
According to him, the surveillance systems employed are Passive Surveillance which covers the entire country, Sentinel Surveillance which covers 9 sites, and an Event Based Surveillance which covers different counties.
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Also, the Ministry employs Integrated Facility Based Surveillance that covers 12 sites and Mortality Surveillance which covers 10 sites.
The Ministry further noted that there have been no significant changes in the number of hospitalizations and deaths reported.
MoH while highlighting that Influenza infections are typically self-limiting, warned that they may result in severe disease or death especially in people at high risk.
Prevention measures
Further, the Office of the Director General in its advisory listed different precaution measures to avoid the immense rise of infections. as follows.
Among the listed precautions include avoiding close contact with sick people especially those with respiratory symptoms, covering the nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, and using face masks/coverings when in public spaces.
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Other prevention measures include sick people limiting contact with others as much as possible, wash your hands often with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand rub, and cleaning or disinfecting surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with viruses that cause flu.
The Ministry further directed for special attention to be applied to cases showing signs of breathing difficulties and suspected infections among a list of a special category of people.
These include children and the aged, pregnant women and people with coexisting conditions such as cancer, TB, HIV, Diabetes, Heart diseases, among others.
The clarification by MoH comes following reports of an increase in the number of patients reporting respiratory infections which attributed these cases to the new COVID 19 variant Omicron JN1.
MoH highlighted that it has been monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 cases with focus on the new JN1 varian since December 2023.
