Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
Surge in swine flu cases
By: Syed Jafar Askari | Published: December 31, 2009
KARACHI - The recent official statistics of the influenza H1N1 (Swine Flu) cases has exposed the intensity of pandemic disease in the province, as around 72 cases have been confirmed officially in different hospitals.
Around 42 cases of swine flu have been confirmed only at the laboratory of the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), while about four or five new cases are being registered regularly at the said hospital.
Sindh Health Department has recently issued the official statistics of the swine flu.
As per the statistics, around 72 cases have been confirmed officially in different hospitals out of which 30 are male and 42 are female.
Around 7 new cases have recently been admitted to different hospitals while six deaths are reported during this ongoing pandemic.
Head of Infection Control Committee AKUH Dr Bushra Jamil, while talking to The Nation on Wednesday, said that around four or five cases were being registered regularly at the AKUH, which showed intensity of the disease. She was of the view that the intensity of pandemic influenza in the province may be ended in coming March and April.
?Aga Khan Laboratories have confirmed the presence of swine flu in 42 patients alone. Hygiene and preventative measures are the effective tools against the swine flu. The unidentified cases of swine flu are greater than registered cases in the province,? she added.
It is to be noted here that the H in H1N1 stands for Hemagglutinin and N for Neuraminidase, two viral proteins that involved in the propagation of the disease. Deadly flu viruses are produced due to recombination of the different isoforms of Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase of human and avian viruses.
This recombination occurs in pigs and that is why places where humans, birds (chickens) and pigs live close together the disease appears to originate from.
The association with pigs is also the reason why most Muslim countries were spared of the Spanish flu in 1918. The spontaneous mutation is quite common in this type of viruses of the disease that is why effective vaccines are not available for the disease.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-n.../Karachi/31-Dec-2009/Surge-in-swine-flu-cases
By: Syed Jafar Askari | Published: December 31, 2009
KARACHI - The recent official statistics of the influenza H1N1 (Swine Flu) cases has exposed the intensity of pandemic disease in the province, as around 72 cases have been confirmed officially in different hospitals.
Around 42 cases of swine flu have been confirmed only at the laboratory of the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), while about four or five new cases are being registered regularly at the said hospital.
Sindh Health Department has recently issued the official statistics of the swine flu.
As per the statistics, around 72 cases have been confirmed officially in different hospitals out of which 30 are male and 42 are female.
Around 7 new cases have recently been admitted to different hospitals while six deaths are reported during this ongoing pandemic.
Head of Infection Control Committee AKUH Dr Bushra Jamil, while talking to The Nation on Wednesday, said that around four or five cases were being registered regularly at the AKUH, which showed intensity of the disease. She was of the view that the intensity of pandemic influenza in the province may be ended in coming March and April.
?Aga Khan Laboratories have confirmed the presence of swine flu in 42 patients alone. Hygiene and preventative measures are the effective tools against the swine flu. The unidentified cases of swine flu are greater than registered cases in the province,? she added.
It is to be noted here that the H in H1N1 stands for Hemagglutinin and N for Neuraminidase, two viral proteins that involved in the propagation of the disease. Deadly flu viruses are produced due to recombination of the different isoforms of Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase of human and avian viruses.
This recombination occurs in pigs and that is why places where humans, birds (chickens) and pigs live close together the disease appears to originate from.
The association with pigs is also the reason why most Muslim countries were spared of the Spanish flu in 1918. The spontaneous mutation is quite common in this type of viruses of the disease that is why effective vaccines are not available for the disease.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-n.../Karachi/31-Dec-2009/Surge-in-swine-flu-cases