Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete has assured the public that there are systems in place to deal with an outbreak of flu in the country.

His assurance comes amid the influx of patients queuing up at hospitals around Fiji as the number of flu cases increase.

However, Dr Waqainabete said, the flu outbreak had been around since the beginning of the year.

“The trend is going up and down, that is usually the case when you have a seasonal flu outbreak, so there will be some weeks with a lot of patients turning up,” Dr Waqainabete said.

“We are making sure we have the staffing and resources and we will ensure that whoever turns up at our health facilities is well looked after.”

Lami Health Centre staff-Nurse Sera Naiti assist Unaisi Bewatu’s year-old son, Sonia Bwatu in breathing on May 7, 2019. Photo: Ronald Kumar.

He had advised people to seek medical attention if they are experiencing flu symptoms, especially people who already have underlying diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.

“My worry is with people who already have underlying diseases because when they get hit by the flu, their resilience is not as strong as normal people,” Dr Waqainabete said.

“When these people get the flu, they need to come to the hospital because they are at more risk than a normal person.”

He added people could take about three days to recover from flu, five days at a maximum and if someone was having the flu for more than that period, it meant it is complicated by something else.

“Flu is very vague, so people can have fever, headaches, fatigue, cough, but again not everyone coughs when they have seasonal flu,” Dr Waqainanabete said.

“If there is someone in the family who has flu, that person needs to be looked after, also ensure it is not spread to other people.”

Edited by Epineri Vula

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