Seaman positive for A(H1N1) cuts short quarantine period
Before results came out that a 38-year-old seafarer was positive for A(H1N1), the said patient has reportedly cut short his quarantine period at the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) despite the refusal of hospital staff.
Sources close to the quarantine center said the seaman signed a waiver that the hospital has no liability over him as he decided to end his quarantine even before the required 10-days quarantine period for A(H1N1) positive patients.
The patient was discharged but later returned to the hospital after he already manifested symptoms of the influenza. His laboratory results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Manila later showed positive results.
Aside from the seaman, his wife and one child is closely being monitored by hospital staff and other people who have close contacts with the family. The seaman was the first patient admitted at the quarantine center found positive for influenza.
The case of the seaman is only one of the cases at the quarantine center where hospital staff and nurses are helpless if the patient and his family refused to follow the rules of the hospital and the Department of Health.
In one instance, the companion of the patient suspected with A(H1N1) inside the room went out while the other companion of the patient who is tasked to run errands for the patient went inside the room.
Ideally, suspected A(H1N1) patient must have two companions. One will accompany the patient inside the room and other one to facilitate the needs of the patient. However, if the patient has only one companion, the nurses help them.
The food and other stuff needed by the patient and his folk are brought inside the room through a bedside table with trolley. The nurses will first phone in the patient’s room and ask the patient’s companion to open the door and get the things they have requested. The door will be immediately closed.
At the quarantine center, private as well as resident doctors and staff assigned in the building have taken extra precautionary measures that the infection will not spread and affect other patients admitted in the same building.
There are hospital nurses and staff specifically assigned for suspected influenza patients. Only regular staff with hazard pay are detailed for A(H1N1) patients. They are strictly following orders in proper to wearing of body suit, hair cap, mask and goggles even if they are uncomfortable. The protective gear generates heat in their body. They look like astronauts when entering the room.
The building which is situated at the back portion of the hospital compound is an ideal place for a quarantine center. Safer measures are imposed inside the building to avoid further spread of the infection.
Meantime, it was learned that private physicians who have patients at the undisclosed building have recommended to hospital authorities to allocate the entire second floor of the building for A(H1N1) patients.
At present, one room at the ground floor is assigned for influenza patients and two other rooms at the second floor. The suspected patients admitted in the second floor pass a different stairway from the other patients with different illnesses.