Colombian health authorities changed the protocol to identify
suspected cases of AH1N1 after the first deadly victim of the virus
fell outside the suspicious categories.
Until today, only people who had been to Mexico and the United States who showed flu-like symptoms were to be considered suspicious cases, but after the death of a 24-year old woman from Bogota who met none of the criteria died of the virus, authorities are forced to change the protocol.
Everyone presenting flu-like symptoms exceeding a 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.5 Celsius), severe headache, vomiting or diarrhea, will be considered as a suspicious case and subjected to tests to determine what is causing the symptoms, Bogota’s health secretary Hector Zambrano told Caracol Radio.
The authorities were critiziced by the family of the first deadly AHN1N victim, because she allegedly received only medication fighting the symptoms of the common flu.