Critically ill JDF recruit to be transferred overseas for treatment

The Health Ministry has said the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) recruit who remains in intensive care, having been afflicted with an unknown ailment, will be transferred to a facility overseas for treatment.
   
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Winston De La Haye said his condition has deteriorated, hence the decision to transfer him.
    
"Whilst his other organ systems have stabilised between last week and now, unfortunately his respiratory system has worsened and the recommendation of the consultants at the intensive care unit is that we explore him being airlifted to a facility in North America with whom they have communicated, recognising that there may be need for additional support for his breathing," he explained. 
 
More than 80 JDF recruits, who fell ill last week during training at the JDF facility at Twickenham Park in St. Catherine, are still in isolation.
                              
Illness still unknown

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health says additional testing on samples from infected Jamaica Defense Force recruits has still not resulted in them identifying the pathogen causing their illnesses.
     
Dr. De La Haye says the latest round of tests conducted by the University Hospital of the West Indies on Tuesday, unfortunately failed to identify the pathogen.
    
The chief medical officer, told RJR News that additional tests will be conducted on fresh samples from the sick recruits.
    
He said the samples may have deteriorated and the tests will be repeated on Wednesday.
    
In addition, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) will be assisting to determine if the pathogen is viral or bacterial.
                                           
"We provided them with the clinical details which they need to be able to make an assessment of the situation, so that we can do wider testing just to rule out any other possibility which we may not have the capabilities of testing here," Dr. De La Haye outlined.