Myanmar’s Ministry of Health and Sports announced yesterday that three people in Yangon and ten in Chin State have received treatment for H1N1, also known as swine flu.
The infections in Chin State are concentrated in the mountain town of Matupi. A six-year-old boy in the town died this week of acute pneumonia, but Yangon Region public health department official Dr. Win Lwin told Eleven that the boy was not one of the H1N1 patients.
The three patients in Yangon are reportedly in critical condition.
News of the infections spread on social media before the ministry’s announcement, prompting people around Yangon to wear face masks.
The ministry urged people to remain calm, saying these outbreaks happen every year. However, while other flu strains are common in Myanmar during rainy season, this is the first recorded outbreak of of H1N1 in Myanmar since the swine flu pandemic of 2009.
The ministry said the World Health Organization is assisting in combating the current outbreak. However, Myanmar remains less then equipped to stem the infections. Dr. Than Tun Aung, the deputy director-general of infectious diseases department, told Reuters that the government has neither any vaccines for H1N1 nor any effective treatment for people who are already infected.
Swine flu symptoms resemble those of other seasonal flus and include coughing, fever, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. The virus can lead to more serious problems, including pneumonia, lung infection, and other respiratory problems.
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