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Trinidad and Tobago have confirmed two deaths from the the H1N1 virus, otherwise incorrectly known as the swine flu. A third death is also currently under investigation. This has been confirmed by the Trinidad and Tobago Health Minister Jerry Narace, at a press conference at the Ministry Of Health in Port Of Spain, Trinidad. All cases were from the San Fernando General Hospital.

Despite the H1N1 deaths, however, Narace insists that there is still no reason for members of the public to panic over the swine flu virus because their surveillance system is working and there are no gaps in it. Narace refused to say if the virus was back with a vengeance, and instead insisted that all protocols were followed in the clinical management of the patients.

The patients all died within 24 hours of being admitted to the San Fernando General Hospital. According to Narace, the hospital is currently being audited completely. “These individuals came into the hospital quite ill, in respiratory distress, one of them quite late in the course of his illness, while the other came from a private institution. It also appears that there were other underlying risk factors,” Narace said.

There were also five other H1N1 cases pending confirmation at the San Fernando Hospital, he said. “The threat was and remains a very serious one. We are currently facing a serious situation that we continue to manage,” Narace said. Asked if the ministry had any plans of advising the Government against hosting Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Narace said: “No, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is safe.” Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held in Port-of-Spain next month.

Dr Albert Persaud, director of South West Regional Health Authority, said the two deceased, who were adult males and of the ages 30 and 42, entered the San Fernando Hospital in respiratory distress. He said one of them was quite late in the course of his illness, while the other came from a private institution. They died while being treated at the Intensive Care Unit just over 24 hours after being admitted. The deaths came between Tuesday evening and yesterday morning. Persaud assured that the patients were given the best care and were attended and managed by experts in severe respiratory illness.

The family of the victims will also be screened, he said. The minister refused to say what the underlying conditions of the two confirmed deaths were, but Pan America Health Organisation/ World Health Organisation representative, Dr Carol Boyd-Scobie, said there was a long list of risk factors. She said people with HIV/AIDS and those who were obese were found to be more vulnerable to the virus, adding people also needed to be more careful and practice proper hygiene.

Narace added that the ministry was going to get 260,000 doses of the swine flu vaccine by mid-November, so there was no need to be concerned about whether the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting or Carnival 2010 would have to be cancelled. Scobie-Boyd said the H1N1 pandemic virus currently remained treatable by the two drugs Oseltamivir, which is found in Tamiflu and Zanamivir.

However, she said, anti-viral treatment was most effective when administered early. Health patients who are not in high risk groups or do not have any complicated ailments are not required to be treated with anti-virals, she said. However, late last evening there were unconfirmed reports that another person died at the San Fernando Hospital and the ward was being cordoned off and visitors were turned away and told there was an emergency. When contacted about the latest development, Narace did not confirm or deny.