U-17 footballers unaffected by swine flu
By Ian Prescott and Aabida Allaham (T&T Express)
Trinidad and Tobago's National Under-17 footballers are safe and unaffected by the swine flu break-out sweeping Mexico and parts of the United States. The footballers are in Tijuana, in Northern Mexico, involved in the CONCACAF Under-17 Championships.
In a telephone interview, National Under-17 assistant coach Michael McComie said that swine flu does not appear to have affected the Tijuana region of Mexico where the tournament is being played. McComie said that the team was safe, except for a bout of "normal" flu.
"We heard of it (swine flu break-out). But we are not affected, and as far as we know, neither are any of the teams competing in this tournament," McComie said. "Just about three players and myself had a bit of the 'ordinary' flu symptoms. As a result, Luke (Hernandez) was not able to play last night against Costa Rica. But we have a doctor (Dr Mario John) here with us and he was able to take care of us all."
McComie also reported that large crowds have turned out to the matches, a far cry from Mexico City where it is reported that football matches have had to be postponed for fear of spreading the disease.
Locally, medical teams to screen visitors coming into Trinidad and Tobago have been set up at Piarco and Crowne Point airports and at the ports in Port of Spain, Chaguaramas and Scarborough, following the World Health Oganisation's warning that an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico has "pandemic potential".
Ministry of Health communications director Theomary Karamanis and County Medical Officer in Tobago Mentor Melville both confirmed yesterday that the medical-screening teams were put in place at the ports of entry.
But president of the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association Dr Solaiman Juman is calling on the Health Ministry to do more than just surveillance.
He said the Under-17 football team, currently in Mexico, needs to be carefully watched, and people here need to be educated on what they can do to prevent contraction of the deadly flu-like virus.
"This whole thing is like a slow-moving hurricane. It started out with the SARS virus, then the bird flu, however, they managed to control that. But until they identify what is the true genetic make-up of this virus, people need to be careful.
"Wash their hands regularly and be careful around people who are sneezing and coughing," he insisted.
Associated Press reports yesterday gave the number of deaths in Mexico City, the area that seems most badly affected as of yesterday, as 68 while hundreds more are sick. Officials in the United States have confirmed that at least ten people have been infected.
