Health Ministry confirms typo led to confusion over 8-Year-old's flu death

Kathimerini.com.cy

The Ministry of Health has confirmed that a typographical error in its database was responsible for the incorrect news that an 8-year-old girl had died from Influenza A. In a statement to "K," the ministry's press officer, Dimitris Constantinou, explained that there was a mix-up with the death of an elderly person from the same illness.

According to Constantinou, the incident in question involved an elderly person who was admitted to the Limassol General Hospital on February 15, 2023 and died 10 days later. This comes as Cyprus is in the grip of a viral cluster, with over 440 hospitalized cases of influenza, including 274 children under the age of 15.

The latest officially recorded data on the surveillance of Influenza activity in Cyprus is from December 26, 2022, to March 6, 2023. It is worth noting that over 50% of the cases involve children under 15 years of age, with the median age of hospitalized cases between February 27 and March 6 being 8 years.

The Ministry of Health has urged the public to take the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the illness, including washing hands frequently, covering the nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, and avoiding close contact with sick individuals.