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Editor, Senior Moderator
Swine flu soon to hit TassieSALLY GLAETZER
June 28, 2010 12:01am
STATE health authorities have warned the next wave of potentially deadly swine flu is on its way.
Tasmanians may have been lulled into a false sense of security because the H1N1 virus has not yet appeared in high numbers this winter.
And the Royal Hobart Hospital has postponed plans for a flu clinic at New Town because only four confirmed cases of swine flu have so far been recorded in Tasmania this year.But deputy public health director Chrissie Pickin said it was likely the next wave of the pandemic, which contributed to the deaths of seven Tasmanians last year, would hit soon.
"It can arrive very quickly, so we can say we've got nothing and in a couple of weeks' time have quite a lot," Dr Pickin said.
"A second wave in a pandemic is usually more severe than the first wave but our second wave will come after the vaccination program and that's been very successful - we've vaccinated nearly a third of the population.
"Without any vaccination, it [would be] more severe, with vaccination we're predicting we'll have at worst a moderate season and hopefully a very mild one."
She said the flu was starting to appear in higher numbers interstate and in New Zealand but there had been no deaths so far this year.
Ninety per cent of the flu cases reported in the southern hemisphere were the H1N1 pandemic strain that killed an estimated 15,000 people worldwide last year.
Dr Pickin urged all Tasmanians who had not been vaccinated to get a flu shot.
People at high risk should have the trivalent flu vaccine to protect against H1N1 and two other strains of flu, she said.
It was free for people in high-risk categories such as the sick, elderly or pregnant.
Those at low risk should get the free monovalent vaccine to protect against H1N1, she said.
The RHH plans to have its clinic, at St John's Park, New Town, ready to be set up at short notice.
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/06/28/155061_tasmania-news.html
June 28, 2010 12:01am
STATE health authorities have warned the next wave of potentially deadly swine flu is on its way.
Tasmanians may have been lulled into a false sense of security because the H1N1 virus has not yet appeared in high numbers this winter.
And the Royal Hobart Hospital has postponed plans for a flu clinic at New Town because only four confirmed cases of swine flu have so far been recorded in Tasmania this year.But deputy public health director Chrissie Pickin said it was likely the next wave of the pandemic, which contributed to the deaths of seven Tasmanians last year, would hit soon.
"It can arrive very quickly, so we can say we've got nothing and in a couple of weeks' time have quite a lot," Dr Pickin said.
"A second wave in a pandemic is usually more severe than the first wave but our second wave will come after the vaccination program and that's been very successful - we've vaccinated nearly a third of the population.
"Without any vaccination, it [would be] more severe, with vaccination we're predicting we'll have at worst a moderate season and hopefully a very mild one."
She said the flu was starting to appear in higher numbers interstate and in New Zealand but there had been no deaths so far this year.
Ninety per cent of the flu cases reported in the southern hemisphere were the H1N1 pandemic strain that killed an estimated 15,000 people worldwide last year.
Dr Pickin urged all Tasmanians who had not been vaccinated to get a flu shot.
People at high risk should have the trivalent flu vaccine to protect against H1N1 and two other strains of flu, she said.
It was free for people in high-risk categories such as the sick, elderly or pregnant.
Those at low risk should get the free monovalent vaccine to protect against H1N1, she said.
The RHH plans to have its clinic, at St John's Park, New Town, ready to be set up at short notice.
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/06/28/155061_tasmania-news.html