KEMRI rubbishes claims that it announced an Influenza outbreak

By , K24 Digital
On Fri, 17 Dec, 2021 20:56 | < 1 min read
PHOTO/COURTESY

The Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) has on Friday, December 17, 2021, rubbished claims that it announced an Influenza outbreak.

The research institute, through a press statement, sought to debunk reports about an Influenza outbreak that were circulated on local and social media through newspaper articles and alerts.

"KEMRI has not reported any ‘influenza outbreak in the country as allegedly reported by the newspaper article. Indeed, this information attributed to our research is not only incorrect but also taken out of context and has only succeeded in causing undue panic to members of the public," the statement read in part.

KEMRI stated that the article that announced the alleged Influenza outbreak, based its report on a test it conducted from September to November 2021 on 36 samples.

"Out of this total of 36 samples, only four (4) tested positive for flu which is an insignificant finding to warrant concerns of an influenza outbreak especially within the tropics," the statement added.

The research institute explained that the positive results from the tested samples do not, therefore, reach the threshold of an Influenza outbreak.

It went further to instil confidence in Kenyans and to assure them that there is no case for alarm.

"Overall, the public should therefore not panic about the reported ‘outbreak’ of influenza but should instead exercise higher standards of personal hygiene including hand washing, not crowding, eating healthy and visit your local health provider as preventive measures," the statement concluded.