Kemri dismisses influenza outbreak claims

The Kenya Medical Research Institute has denied claims that it reported an ‘influenza outbreak' in the country.

In a statement, Kemri said that this information attributed to their research is not only incorrect, but also taken out of context and has only succeeded in causing undue panic to members of the public.

Kemri said the alleged ‘outbreak’ is based on a total of the 36 samples tested over a three-month period from September to November during their usual surveillance.

"Out of this total of 36 samples, only four tested positive for flu which is an insignificant finding to warrant concerns of an influenza outbreak especially within the tropics," Kemri said.

Kemri explained that on average, the four positive tests within a three-month period may equate to nearly one positive case per month which does not reach the threshold of an influenza outbreak.

"Past outbreaks have involved higher percentage of cases being positive. In one incident, 150 samples testing positive from a sample of 250 and another case 14 out of 20 samples tested positive."

A single case of an Ebola virus or poliovirus infection is always considered an outbreak due to the severity of these infections or the virus's eradication status, but this is not the case for influenza virus infections, especially in the tropics.

Kemri urged the public not panic about the reported ‘outbreak’ of influenza but should instead exercise higher standards of personal hygiene.

Experts have advised that children under five years and adults above 65 should get vaccinated against flu.

These, alongside people with weakened immunity, suffer the most when they catch the influenza virus.

Dr Evans Amukoye, the director of research and development at Kemri, said vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent flu.

There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C and D. Human influenza A and B viruses cause a surge in infections during almost every rainy season in Kenya.

Edited by CM