Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/251387.asp
Singapore News // Thursday, May 1, 2008
2 new flu strains expected to hit Singapore
Tan Hui Leng
huileng@mediacorp.com.sg
TWO new strains of the flu bug are expected and together with a prevailing strain, they have been identified by the World Health Organisation as being the most likely to cause the flu this year.
.
On Tuesday, GlaxoSmith-Kline announced that its updated vaccine for the circulating flu strains this year had arrived in Singapore.
.
This is just as 15,761 cases of acute upper-respiratory infections were reported at polyclinics last week ? the second week in a row that the number has breached the warning level.
.
General practitioners (GPs) told Today they have seen more patients down with the flu recently but attributed it to the seasonal surge. Still, not all patients come down with just a cough and runny nose.
.
"My impression is that more patients are getting flu complications," said Dr Chong Yeh Woei who has been a GP for 13 years. "The strains seem to be getting stronger in recent years."
.
The complications include tracheal inflammation, sinusitis, dizziness and, in rare instances, the paralysis of vocal chords due to nerve damage.
.
Usually, there is an annual flu surge here from April to July and from November to January. Infectious disease doctor Wong Sin Yew said that high-risk patients ? the very young, the elderly and the chronically ill ? should be vaccinated as they are prone to more serious flu complications.
.
"This is especially important now as two out of the three influenza strains in this new vaccine are new and those patients vaccinated a year ago would need to be re-vaccinated," he added.
Tan Hui Leng
huileng@mediacorp.com.sg
Singapore News // Thursday, May 1, 2008
2 new flu strains expected to hit Singapore
Tan Hui Leng
huileng@mediacorp.com.sg
TWO new strains of the flu bug are expected and together with a prevailing strain, they have been identified by the World Health Organisation as being the most likely to cause the flu this year.
.
On Tuesday, GlaxoSmith-Kline announced that its updated vaccine for the circulating flu strains this year had arrived in Singapore.
.
This is just as 15,761 cases of acute upper-respiratory infections were reported at polyclinics last week ? the second week in a row that the number has breached the warning level.
.
General practitioners (GPs) told Today they have seen more patients down with the flu recently but attributed it to the seasonal surge. Still, not all patients come down with just a cough and runny nose.
.
"My impression is that more patients are getting flu complications," said Dr Chong Yeh Woei who has been a GP for 13 years. "The strains seem to be getting stronger in recent years."
.
The complications include tracheal inflammation, sinusitis, dizziness and, in rare instances, the paralysis of vocal chords due to nerve damage.
.
Usually, there is an annual flu surge here from April to July and from November to January. Infectious disease doctor Wong Sin Yew said that high-risk patients ? the very young, the elderly and the chronically ill ? should be vaccinated as they are prone to more serious flu complications.
.
"This is especially important now as two out of the three influenza strains in this new vaccine are new and those patients vaccinated a year ago would need to be re-vaccinated," he added.
Tan Hui Leng
huileng@mediacorp.com.sg