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  • Namibia: swine flu shuts down school

    Walvis Bay residents on Wednesday protested against the high charges implemented by Redforce Debt Management to recover money owed to the municipality. The municipality began using […]


    26.10.2010
    Virus shuts down school
    By: JANA-MARI SMITH

    HEALTH officials yesterday closed the School for the Visually Impaired in Windhoek after 65 children and teachers took ill from an unidentified virus outbreak since Thursday.
    Teachers at the school explained that symptoms include ?coughing, pain in the back, terrible headaches, dizziness, vomiting and fever?. By yesterday afternoon, the Ministry ordered the closure of the school until further notice.
    Dr Jack Vries, chairperson of the National Health Emergency Management Committee (NHEMC), said by yesterday afternoon the illness remained unidentified.
    He said the results should be available by this morning. Dr Vries confirmed that the current diagnosis is that it is a ?virus-like illness? with ?flu-like symptoms?.
    Marillize Fransman, principal at the School for the Visually Impaired, confirmed yesterday that 65 children and four teachers have been infected by the unidentified virus since Thursday last week.

    She praised the emergency response team at the Katutura State Hospital, whose assistance and response during the past few days she described as ?excellent?.
    Fransman said a number of children began to complain of headaches on Wednesday and by Thursday the school was dealing with a full-blown health crisis, as one child after another fell ill. The virus quickly spread and infected teachers and children who don?t live in the hostel.Nomza Kleinert, principal at the adjacent School for the Hearing Impaired, confirmed that at least seven of the school?s children were sent for tests after they complained of similar symptoms yesterday.
    She said the school is taking precautions to prevent a similar crisis as the neighbouring school is experiencing.
    She said she was advised by health officials to prevent physical interaction as much as possible and to keep suspected cases isolated until further notice.


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  • #2
    Re: Namibia: Flu-like virus shuts down school

    Swine flu hits Namibia

    TESTS have confirmed that the H1N1 flu virus was responsible for the closure of the School for the Visually Impaired in Windhoek on Monday, after 65 children and four teachers fell ill during the past five days.

    By late yesterday afternoon, official confirmation of the test results could not be given by the Ministry of Health and Social services. However, reliable sources did confirm that the test results came back positive for the H1N1 virus.
    The School for the Visually Impaired on Monday confirmed that 65 children and four teachers had taken ill since last Thursday.
    In addition, two neighbouring schools sent pupils to hospital for tests.
    By late yesterday afternoon, the exact number of pupils and teachers who have confirmed H1N1 infections could not yet be confirmed.
    A health official could confirm that all three schools were under close supervision and everyone needing treatment was receiving it.
    Today, ministry and health officials will hold a meeting to discuss an action plan.
    A well-placed health official said everything was under control.
    ?Treatment will start immediately under the supervision of a team of doctors,? he said, adding that the infected children who live in the hostel had been isolated and were under 24-hour supervision and care.
    In addition, the 14 children at the school who fell sick and who live in private homes have been identified and isolated. The health official said there was no need to panic and that every diagnosed H1N1 patient was receiving treatment.
    The Namibian also received confirmation yesterday that at least nine pupils from the Nujoma Senior Secondary School in the Omusati Region tested positive for H1N1 infection two weeks ago.
    Omusati regional health director Hilda Haipinge said yesterday that the children were well again and no further infections were detected in the area.
    Reports in August quoted Health Minister Richard Kamwi as saying that a World Health Organisation review ?of the current global epidemiological data shows that the situation is stabilising with the majority of countries indicating that the Influenza A H1N1 (2009) virus is transitioning towards seasonal patterns of transmission?.
    At the same time, in a press release, Dr Magda Robalo, WHO representative in Namibia, warned that despite the ?post-pandemic period?, the danger of H1N1 infections remained and she cautioned health authorities to ?continue to implement outbreak response measures?.

    Walvis Bay residents on Wednesday protested against the high charges implemented by Redforce Debt Management to recover money owed to the municipality. The municipality began using […]

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    • #3
      Re: Namibia: Flu-like virus shuts down school


      Nearly 1,000 Namibian children feared to have swine flu



      Nearly 1,000 school children were feared to have swine flu or A H1N1 influenza in Namibia, the health ministry said Wednesday.

      "A total of 970 learners from two schools, one in the capital Windhoek and one in north-central Namibia had been seen having symptoms of flu-like illness," Health Minister Richard Kamwi told parliament.

      "Swabs were taken and 31 random samples sent to a laboratory and 29 were positive of AH1N1 and two were negative. In this regard we can conclude that all those who had the symptoms are assumed to be H1N1 positive," Kamwi added.

      Health authorities closed a special school in Windhoek for visually impaired children at the start of the week as over 60 children went down with flu symptoms.

      "All school children were isolated and have responded very well to treatment and are recovering," said Kamwi.

      Namibia had fewer than a hundred H1N1 cases in 2009 and only one death from the flu.

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      • #4
        Re: Namibia: swine flu shuts down school

        Namibia's Health Ministry Confirms H1N1 Virus Outbreak

        WINDHOEK (Namibia), Oct 28 (Bernama) - The Ministry of Health and Social Services has confirmed an outbreak of Influenza A H1N1 in the country's Khomas and Omusati regions, Namibian news agency (Nampa) reported.

        Speaking in the National Assembly (NA) on Wednesday, Health and Social Services Minister, Dr Richard Kamwi said 29 of 31 Influenza A H1N1, also known as swine-flu, specimen samples taken came out positively.

        Swabs were carried out on 970 learners in Oshikuku in the Omusati Region and Windhoek in the Khomas Region Health Districts.

        The specimen samples were tested at a World Health Organisation (WHO) accredited laboratory in neighbouring South Africa and the Namibia Institute of Pathology.

        "In this regard, we can conclude that all those (people) who had symptoms similar to Influenza A H1N1 as in 2009, are assumed to be Influenza A H1N1 positive," Kamwi said.

        The minister allayed fears of an uncontrollable Influenza A H1N1 virus outbreak, saying there is no need for panic.


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        • #5
          Re: Namibia: swine flu shuts down school

          Swine flu tops 100

          AT LEAST 100 pupils and teachers have been infected with the H1N1 flu virus at schools in Windhoek and another nine in the Omusati Region during the past three weeks.

          The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, confirmed yesterday that random swabs taken at the schools confirmed an H1N1 outbreak.
          ?The confirmed cases are concentrated in a few isolated schools and hostels in Oshikuku district in the Omusati Region and in Windhoek?.
          Teachers at the schools for the Visually and Hearing Impaired, located next to each other in Khomasdal, confirmed that at least 100 teachers and pupils have been infected.
          The School for the Visually Impaired was closed on Monday, after 65 students fell ill. The School for the Hearing Impaired is still open, but ill students have been isolated from other children for the time being.
          Dr Kamwi said yesterday that all infected teachers and students have been isolated and are responding well to treatment.
          He confirmed that the ministry had in the past week sent out rapid-response teams to investigate other possibly affected schools.
          In addition, students have been isolated within the hostels or sent home as a precautionary measure to prevent the further spread of the virus.
          A small portion of students who showed severe symptoms were treated in hospital, Dr Kamwi said.
          The ministry conducted a mass vaccination campaign in June and July, Dr Kamwi said. During the campaign, children aged 6 months to one year old, pregnant women and other selected groups were vaccinated against the swine flu.
          Kamwi reminded that in August he made a statement based on the World Health Organisation?s announcement that H1N1 had been categorised as a ?seasonal flu virus for many years to come?.


          ...


          Walvis Bay residents on Wednesday protested against the high charges implemented by Redforce Debt Management to recover money owed to the municipality. The municipality began using […]

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          • #6
            Re: Namibia: swine flu shuts down school

            Nearly 1,000 Namibian children feared to have swine flu


            WINDHOEK ? Nearly 1,000 school children were feared to have swine flu or A H1N1 influenza in Namibia, the health ministry said Wednesday.

            "A total of 970 learners from two schools, one in the capital Windhoek and one in north-central Namibia had been seen having symptoms of flu-like illness," Health Minister Richard Kamwi told parliament.

            "Swabs were taken and 31 random samples sent to a laboratory and 29 were positive of AH1N1 and two were negative. In this regard we can conclude that all those who had the symptoms are assumed to be H1N1 positive," Kamwi added.

            Health authorities closed a special school in Windhoek for visually impaired children at the start of the week as over 60 children went down with flu symptoms.

            "All school children were isolated and have responded very well to treatment and are recovering," said Kamwi.

            Namibia had fewer than a hundred H1N1 cases in 2009 and only one death from the flu.

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