This archive report was first published on 25 July 2019.
Published on July 25, 2019, a doctor in Kenya is recovering from influenza after unknowingly contracting the disease while treating a patient at MP Shah's Intensive Care Unit.
The doctor, who has not been named, started showing cold-like symptoms a day after a 17-year-old boy died of the disease.
According to sources, the two medical officers had been taking care of the patient who died at MP Shah's ICU when they started showing symptoms of the disease.
"We had just taken samples from the deceased to know the cause of death when the two medical officers started showing symptoms of the disease," a source said.
One of the medics' condition deteriorated, and he ended up in isolation as his colleagues managed him.
"He stayed in the hospital for three days and on the fourth we discharged him, but ensured that even at home he stayed in a separate room until he got better," the source added.
Dr. Ouma Oluga, the secretary-general of the doctors' trade union, has called on the Health ministry to vaccinate health workers against the disease.
"This doctor may have continued to see other patients, oblivious that he had already contracted the illness. It means every other patient he saw after the infected one was exposed to the virus," Dr. Oluga said.
He further noted that cases of severe flu have been reported in multiple health facilities, where some have been confirmed to be Influenza A H3N1.
Three people are currently being treated as the Health ministry advised the public to seek medical attention in case of cold-like symptoms.
