Family has confirmed that the Guyanese businessman Vishnunarine Sugrim, who contracted the H1N1 Swine flu, has passed away from complications from the virus, while being treated at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
The father of five contracted the illness in China, and developed the symptoms within a two-week period when he returned to Guyana.
When Sugrim was suspected to have contracted Swine Flu, Health authorities here sent samples of his blood to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad for testing.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, says the Public Health Ministry is monitoring some of Sugrim’s close relatives and health care workers who had attended to him at a private hospital.
Persaud explained that the virus can only be transmitted if an infected person coughs or sneezes .
The Ministry has tightened its surveillance security system at the main ports of entry in the country, primarily at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Ogle International Airport.
Symptoms of the H1N1 virus include coughing, fever, sore throat, body aches and headaches.
