NEWS FROM THE UAE
Excerpts from UAE Dailies

Ministry’s warning against meningitis

DUBAI — Feb. 05:The Ministry of Health (MoH) has asked people to exercise caution after two confirmed and three suspected cases of meningitis were reported in Dubai last week.

Implementing an emergency plan, health authorities have urged parents to seek immediate medical attention if their children show any symptom of meningitis. They have also alerted all hospitals in the Emirates.

All the five cases were reported from a building in Deira. Among them were four children, aged between five and seven, and a woman.

The rest of the 220 residents of the building, both adults and children, had been vaccinated immediately after the meningitis cases were detected. Among those vaccinated with type A vaccine were 54 children, below seven years of age.

Addressing the Press at the MoH yesterday, Dr Mariam Mattar, Assistant Under-Secretary for Public Health and Primary Healthcare, said on January 31 a boy was admitted to Al Baraha Hospital with fever, vomiting tendencies and headache.

On February 1, his sister was also admitted to the hospital complaining of the same symptoms.

“The doctors carried out some tests which showed negative results as too many antibiotics had been administered to the children. The infected children are Indian nationals,” said Dr Mattar.

“Laboratory investigations showed that the children were suffering from bacterial meningitis, though the right type is yet to be identified,” she explained, adding that two more children from the same building with the same symptoms had also been hospitalised.

“The mother of one of the children was also showing the same symptoms, though the tests did not confirm the disease,” added Dr Mattar.

She said all the children were being kept in an isolation ward in Al Baraha Hospital and would be discharged as soon as their condition was stable.

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Nursing exam on March 1

ABU DHABI — Feb. 05: The forthcoming nursing examination will be held on March 1, the Federal Department of Nursing has announced.

Registration for the exams will be open from February 25 to 27 between 8:00 am and 12:30 pm.

Registration will be closed once the seats are full.

The exam is open for candidates working with the Ministry of Health (MoH), other government departments as well as the private sector.

Nurses employed with the private sector who wish to take the exams need to obtain an official letter issued by the MoH’s Private Medical Licensing Department.

All expatriate applicants who have completed foreign nursing programme must have obtained at least 60 per cent marks in the programme.

They must also have at least 1,000 hours’ experience in the profession three years prior to applying for registration in the UAE.

Nurses meeting the eligibility criteria may request for the nursing registration application form and instructions and information sheet from the Department of Nursing between 8 am and 12:30 pm from Saturday to Wednesday, on the MoH premises.

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