Swine flu making a come back

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDSep 24 2010

A second elderly man succumbed to the swine flu virus as the Northern Territory experiences an upsurge in infection rates from the virus. Both men had serious health problems that raised their risk of dying with the disease. They were the first people to die with swine flu in the NT this year. It takes the total number of known swine flu-related deaths nationally so far this year to 14, compared to 191 in 2009. Since May 2009, according to the latest Australian Influenza Surveillance Report to 9^th September 2010 there were almost 40,000 confirmed cases of H1N1, or swine flu, in Australia. The Australian federal government report showed that only 2,300 of those cases occurred in 2010. In August the World Health Organization declared an end to the global swine flu pandemic, which originated in Mexico early in 2009.

Nevertheless NT health officials released a statement on Wednesday advising people that swine flu remained a serious threat to public health, particularly among people with pre-existing medical conditions. The Department of Health here did not reveal the details of these patients such as age and ethnicity. According to Peter Markey, from the NT Centre for Disease Control, “It is especially important for those at high risk to get a flu shot…This includes people with serious health conditions who are at risk of greater complications from the flu, and also includes the people looking after them…Flu vaccination is also very important for pregnant women, people with obesity and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.” He said that the commonest strain of influenza circulating the Territory this year was H1N1, or swine flu. Of the 173 influenza notifications in the NT, 139 were by H1N1 he said. He also revealed that around 45 of the reported swine flu cases have occurred in the past week, 17 of which required hospitalization.

Dr. Markey also pointed out that vaccine rates were not satisfactory. He said, “It is recognized that influenza is more likely to occur in places where vaccination rates are lower…Recent monitoring of flu activity has shown a steady increase in the number of cases reported.” Simple measures like staying at home, hand washing and covering the mouth while coughing or sneezing can help a lot he said.

This said there still remains the issue of the $65 million loss on unused swine flu vaccine that could not be used or given away but stockpiles after the last year’s flu scare.