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State fared best fighting swine flu <!-- google_ad_section_end(name=story_headline) --><!-- // .story-headline -->
Grant McArthur
From: <CITE>Herald Sun </CITE>
January 08, 2010 12:00AM
JUST 26 Victorians were killed in the state's swine flu outbreak, but more than one in five people admitted to hospital with the virus became so sick they required treatment in intensive care. <!-- google_ad_section_end(name=story_introduction) --><!-- // .story-intro --><!-- google_ad_section_start(name=story_body, weight=high) -->
Despite Victoria being ostracised by other states and labelled as one of the world's worst hotbeds for swine flu, official figures now reveal the state actually had the lowest rate of hospital admissions in Australia.
The final audit of Victoria's swine flu toll, seen by the Herald Sun, reveals 514 Victorians were admitted to hospital, including 118 treated in intensive care.
There were 6800 people quarantined in their homes at the height of the illness, while 88 schools were either completely or partly closed and another 24 were disrupted.
Across Australia swine flu killed 191 people and, although other states are yet to publicly release their final figures, Victoria's acting top health officer Dr Rosemary Lester said a confidential national audit showed Victoria fared better.
"With Victoria getting the initial brunt of the outbreak we certainly felt it could have been a lost worse than it did end up," Dr Lester said.
"The perception was at the time that Victoria was the swine flu hot spot, but our outbreak peaked and decreased quite dramatically."
The Department of Human Services distributed 20,000 doses of Tamiflu during the April-September outbreak, which Dr Lester believes credits with limiting the spread of the virus.
The better-than-expected outcome has caused many people to ignore health department appeals to have swine flu vaccinations in preparation for a second wave of the virus next winter.
So far the Department of Human Services has distributed almost 1.5 million doses of the vaccine to doctors and hospitals, however Dr Lester said only about half had actually been administered.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/state-fared-best-fighting-swine-flu/story-e6frf7jo-1225817141804
Grant McArthur
From: <CITE>Herald Sun </CITE>
January 08, 2010 12:00AM
JUST 26 Victorians were killed in the state's swine flu outbreak, but more than one in five people admitted to hospital with the virus became so sick they required treatment in intensive care. <!-- google_ad_section_end(name=story_introduction) --><!-- // .story-intro --><!-- google_ad_section_start(name=story_body, weight=high) -->
Despite Victoria being ostracised by other states and labelled as one of the world's worst hotbeds for swine flu, official figures now reveal the state actually had the lowest rate of hospital admissions in Australia.
The final audit of Victoria's swine flu toll, seen by the Herald Sun, reveals 514 Victorians were admitted to hospital, including 118 treated in intensive care.
There were 6800 people quarantined in their homes at the height of the illness, while 88 schools were either completely or partly closed and another 24 were disrupted.
Across Australia swine flu killed 191 people and, although other states are yet to publicly release their final figures, Victoria's acting top health officer Dr Rosemary Lester said a confidential national audit showed Victoria fared better.
"With Victoria getting the initial brunt of the outbreak we certainly felt it could have been a lost worse than it did end up," Dr Lester said.
"The perception was at the time that Victoria was the swine flu hot spot, but our outbreak peaked and decreased quite dramatically."
The Department of Human Services distributed 20,000 doses of Tamiflu during the April-September outbreak, which Dr Lester believes credits with limiting the spread of the virus.
The better-than-expected outcome has caused many people to ignore health department appeals to have swine flu vaccinations in preparation for a second wave of the virus next winter.
So far the Department of Human Services has distributed almost 1.5 million doses of the vaccine to doctors and hospitals, however Dr Lester said only about half had actually been administered.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/state-fared-best-fighting-swine-flu/story-e6frf7jo-1225817141804