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Costa Rica Now With 7 Confirmed H1N1 Cases

The Ministerio de Salud has confirmed that Costa Rica has seven confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, after receiving results of eight samples sent to the the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. Only one case was discarted by US health officials.

Almost two weeks after the first case of the virus appeared in Costa Rica, health officials have investigated 645 “suspected” cases, most of which were discarded and eight “probables”, samples that were sent to the CDC for confirmation.

The test results took more than a week to get back to the ministerio de Salud, as Costa Rica had yet to receive the kit for testing locally and must rely on the CDC for a confirmed result.

According to the ministra de Salud, María Luisa Ávila, the confirmed cases involve minors and adults, but would not give more details, other than some are already coming out isolation, well on the road to recovery.

Ávila explained that in all the cases, the infected had been in Mexico or had contact with someone having been in Mexico and the virus did not spread beyond the original infection and into the community.

The ministra added that Costa Rica now has the testing kit and the person whose results were negative is being tested again.

With the arrival of the test kit, Ávila said that Costa Rica can now quickly confirm or discard suspected cases and not have to rely on results coming back from the U.S.

Dr. José Miguel Rojas, director of Desarrollo de Servicios de Salud en la Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) said that the testing by the Instituto Costarricense de Investigación y Enseñanza en Nutrición y Salud (Inciensa) also allow health officials to confirm the circulation of other types of flu virus that is common with the change in weather, with the start of the rainy season.

Health officials are expected to take to the road this coming week, visiting areas in the northern and southern zones of the country in a preventive campaign.