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Re: Australia News Reports
Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/flu-escalates-in-victoria-20090531-br8o.html
Flu escalates in Victoria
Jill Stark and Josh Gordon
May 31, 2009
HEALTH authorities have defended their decision not to move to the next phase in combating the spread of swine flu as the virus yesterday hit rural Victoria for the first time.
The confirmation of three new cases in the shires of Macedon Ranges, Mitchell and Indigo in the state's north, and another 32 cases in Melbourne, pushed the number of infections in Victoria to 173, and the national total to 254.
Yesterday Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was tested for swine flu after returning from regional talks in Singapore with a sore throat, but was quickly cleared.
Twenty-six of Victoria's new cases were children aged five to 18. But Health Minister Daniel Andrews said no schools had been added to the seven that remain closed and there was no need for a blanket closure.
With more than 3000 Victorians now in quarantine, there is growing pressure to move from the "contain" phase to the "sustain" phase of the flu pandemic plan. A further 262 tests on Victorians suspected to be infected are pending, suggesting the virus is now moving too rapidly to be contained.
But Mr Andrews said the risk of the virus mutating to a more serious strain of flu justified the quarantine measures. The state's acting chief health officer, Rosemary Lester, said while she sympathised with frustrated house-bound families, the protective measures were still necessary.
The measures come as swamped doctors warn they are at risk of becoming infected, with inundated GP surgeries running out of protective masks. Dr Harry Hemley, Victorian president of the Australian Medical Association, yesterday put out an urgent call for the Federal Government to release supplies from the national stockpile.
Dr Hemley, a GP in Northcote, described the area as "ground zero" for swine flu, with colleagues so short of supplies they were unable to protect themselves or their staff. "In some places they have run out of masks completely. There's a real risk that staff will be infected themselves if we don't have adequate safeguards. We need access to more protective gear now."
Dr Hemley said doctors were being overrun with worried patients, many of whom had symptoms no more serious than a runny nose.
"If people have a cough, they should stay at home and see how it develops. If they start to develop a fever and have aches and pains all over their body, that's when they should present to their doctor," he said.
Australia's chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, said cases so far were mild in "almost everybody" and patients who were more at risk were those with respiratory illnesses such as asthma, pregnant woman and diabetics.
While there was a chance the virus could mutate into something more serious, Professor Bishop said that unlike the H5 avian virus it was changing slowly, giving the country time to treat people and stockpile drugs.
As of last night, there were about 15,500 cases of swine flu worldwide, with 99 deaths recorded, Professor Bishop said.
National cases
VICTORIA 173
NEW SOUTH WALES 54
SOUTH AUSTRALIA 7
QUEENSLAND 15
WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1
ACT 3
TASMANIA 1
Source: The Age
Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/flu-escalates-in-victoria-20090531-br8o.html
Flu escalates in Victoria
Jill Stark and Josh Gordon
May 31, 2009
HEALTH authorities have defended their decision not to move to the next phase in combating the spread of swine flu as the virus yesterday hit rural Victoria for the first time.
The confirmation of three new cases in the shires of Macedon Ranges, Mitchell and Indigo in the state's north, and another 32 cases in Melbourne, pushed the number of infections in Victoria to 173, and the national total to 254.
Yesterday Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was tested for swine flu after returning from regional talks in Singapore with a sore throat, but was quickly cleared.
Twenty-six of Victoria's new cases were children aged five to 18. But Health Minister Daniel Andrews said no schools had been added to the seven that remain closed and there was no need for a blanket closure.
With more than 3000 Victorians now in quarantine, there is growing pressure to move from the "contain" phase to the "sustain" phase of the flu pandemic plan. A further 262 tests on Victorians suspected to be infected are pending, suggesting the virus is now moving too rapidly to be contained.
But Mr Andrews said the risk of the virus mutating to a more serious strain of flu justified the quarantine measures. The state's acting chief health officer, Rosemary Lester, said while she sympathised with frustrated house-bound families, the protective measures were still necessary.
The measures come as swamped doctors warn they are at risk of becoming infected, with inundated GP surgeries running out of protective masks. Dr Harry Hemley, Victorian president of the Australian Medical Association, yesterday put out an urgent call for the Federal Government to release supplies from the national stockpile.
Dr Hemley, a GP in Northcote, described the area as "ground zero" for swine flu, with colleagues so short of supplies they were unable to protect themselves or their staff. "In some places they have run out of masks completely. There's a real risk that staff will be infected themselves if we don't have adequate safeguards. We need access to more protective gear now."
Dr Hemley said doctors were being overrun with worried patients, many of whom had symptoms no more serious than a runny nose.
"If people have a cough, they should stay at home and see how it develops. If they start to develop a fever and have aches and pains all over their body, that's when they should present to their doctor," he said.
Australia's chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, said cases so far were mild in "almost everybody" and patients who were more at risk were those with respiratory illnesses such as asthma, pregnant woman and diabetics.
While there was a chance the virus could mutate into something more serious, Professor Bishop said that unlike the H5 avian virus it was changing slowly, giving the country time to treat people and stockpile drugs.
As of last night, there were about 15,500 cases of swine flu worldwide, with 99 deaths recorded, Professor Bishop said.
National cases
VICTORIA 173
NEW SOUTH WALES 54
SOUTH AUSTRALIA 7
QUEENSLAND 15
WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1
ACT 3
TASMANIA 1
Source: The Age