South Africa H1N1 fatalities climb at 6

[Pathfinder]

H1N1 fatalities double

August 16 2009 at 04:52PM



South Africa's swine flu death toll has increased to six in two weeks making the country the worst affected by the epidemic on the continent, health officials said on Sunday.

Three people died last week, two pregnant women aged 23 and 27 and a man in his 60s.

"Swine flu fatalities in the country now stand at six, this makes us the leading country in Africa with the most A(H1N1) case load and fatalities," national health spokesman Fidel Hadebe, told AFP.

He said fatalities were reported from different provinces.

South Africa reported its first infection in June and the country is dealing with some 2 800 cases so far, according to the health department. - AFP

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?...click_id=13&art_id=nw20090816164700417C171376

 

[Shiloh]

Re: South Africa H1N1 fatalities climb at 6

Source: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=78773

SA swine flu cases near 3500 mark
Sapa
Published: 2009/08/17 02:57:11 PM

A total of six deaths and 3485 cases of swine flu were confirmed in South Africa today, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said.

"As at 17 August 2009, there are 3485 laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009, 'swine flu', in South Africa," the NICD said in a statement.

"Six A H1N1-related deaths have been confirmed... four of the cases had no underlying conditions, one patient was pregnant and another was pregnant and diabetic."

The majority of cases remained mild, the institute said.

"It is important that pandemic influenza A H1N1 must be considered in the diagnosis of any persons with moderate or severe influenza-like illness, including healthy young persons with progressive pneumonia and appropriate treatment needs to be instituted.

"In addition, early treatment with antivirals is advised for people with moderate and severe influenza-like illness who are pregnant, those living with HIV and Aids, and those with chronic medical conditions including chronic lung disease and diabetes," said the NICD.

Three deaths were confirmed at the weekend and two of these were pregnant women, the health ministry said earlier.

The three were from KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.

The country's first H1N1 victim reported was 22-year-old Stellenbosch University student Ruan Muller. The second swine flu

death was of a 15-year-old boy from Bloemfontein and the third, a 42-year-old man from the Western Cape.

Health officials urged people not to panic but said high risk patients needed to be cautious.

Those with mild symptoms need medical attention if they started experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain, persistent vomiting, diarrhoea and severe drowsiness or loss of consciousness.

The Eastern Cape's health department today said its confirmed number of swine flu cases stood at 88 while KwaZulu-Natal reported 296 cases.