tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
CAPE TOWN (Xinhua) -- More than 100 people have been sickened by H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, across South Africa, authorities confirmed on Sunday.
Through monitoring different strains of flu at several strategic clinics across the country, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has recorded 133 cases of H1N1 this year.
The institute said in its flu surveillance report that KwuZulu- Natal Province in northeastern South Africa is the hardest hit.
The past month saw a spike in reported cases, according to the report.
Data generated from one clinic in Pietermaritzburg, the capital of KwuZulu-Natal, suggests that there have been more than 100 infections at that clinic alone.
One woman is thought to have died as a result of the virus after spending several days in isolated care at a hospital in Durban, the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal, according to Sunday Tribune.
The paper quoted an unidentified doctor as saying ?there are indeed a large number of patients being treated for regular influenza?.
?Those who don?t respond to the standard treatment and still have symptoms such as dehydration and pneumonia will then be tested for H1N1,? the doctor said.
But the provincial Health Department has played down fears of a new outbreak of swine flu.
The head of the department, Sam Mkhwanazi, said there had been no outbreak of H1N1 in the province, but confirmed that it had been deemed a prominent strain.
?To date the prominent influenza strain in South Africa for the 2013 season is A(H1N1) pdm09, which is also known as swine flu,? he said.
H1N1 flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza among pigs. H1N1 flu viruses do not normally infect humans; however, human-to- human spread of H1N1 flu virus is occurring, similar to the spread of regular seasonal flu viruses.
H1N1 swine flu swept around the world in a 2009/2010 pandemic. The World Health Organization said the death toll reached 18,500 during that period.
http://www.coastweek.com/3632_FOCUS_08.htm
Through monitoring different strains of flu at several strategic clinics across the country, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has recorded 133 cases of H1N1 this year.
The institute said in its flu surveillance report that KwuZulu- Natal Province in northeastern South Africa is the hardest hit.
The past month saw a spike in reported cases, according to the report.
Data generated from one clinic in Pietermaritzburg, the capital of KwuZulu-Natal, suggests that there have been more than 100 infections at that clinic alone.
One woman is thought to have died as a result of the virus after spending several days in isolated care at a hospital in Durban, the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal, according to Sunday Tribune.
The paper quoted an unidentified doctor as saying ?there are indeed a large number of patients being treated for regular influenza?.
?Those who don?t respond to the standard treatment and still have symptoms such as dehydration and pneumonia will then be tested for H1N1,? the doctor said.
But the provincial Health Department has played down fears of a new outbreak of swine flu.
The head of the department, Sam Mkhwanazi, said there had been no outbreak of H1N1 in the province, but confirmed that it had been deemed a prominent strain.
?To date the prominent influenza strain in South Africa for the 2013 season is A(H1N1) pdm09, which is also known as swine flu,? he said.
H1N1 flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza among pigs. H1N1 flu viruses do not normally infect humans; however, human-to- human spread of H1N1 flu virus is occurring, similar to the spread of regular seasonal flu viruses.
H1N1 swine flu swept around the world in a 2009/2010 pandemic. The World Health Organization said the death toll reached 18,500 during that period.
http://www.coastweek.com/3632_FOCUS_08.htm