SA to stop counting at 100

2009-07-09 22:15

Johannesburg - Once a total of 100 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in South Africa, authorities will stop the individual laboratory confirmation of cases, said the Department of Health on Thursday.

Spokesperson Fidel Hadebe said it would no longer be essential to monitor the level or nature of the risk posed by swine flu, which is the A H1N1 strain of influenza.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Wednesday that an increase to 47 cases from 30 on Monday was not a cause for panic as those infected showed only mild symptoms of swine flu.

NICD deputy director Dr Lucille Blumberg said: "We do not yet have the community transmission as in other countries, but we can expect more mild cases, as it appears we will be having a second flu season."

South Africa started recording swine flu cases after a 12-year-old boy, who arrived in the country from the United States on June 13, was found to have the virus.

Hadebe said: "The few patients that were hospitalised, such as the 12-year-old boy, our first case, have since fully recovered."

"All other cases have also fully recovered, except for the... new ones confirmed yesterday (Wednesday), who are recovering at home."

Mild illness

"The patients appear to have mild illness, with no complications so far and are being managed in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Department of Health guidelines," Hadebe said.

He said that in line with a recent WHO advisory, the increase in the number of cases globally, including in South Africa, was inevitable.

Hadebe said focus would be directed at surveillance at certain sites and laboratory confirmation of moderate or severe cases, also in line with the recommendations of the WHO.

Figures released by the WHO at the end of June indicated that swine flu had infected 59 814 people in 113 countries across the globe and had killed 263 people.

The department advised that anybody with a travel history or who had been in contact with someone known to have swine flu and who started experiencing flu-like symptoms within seven days should seek medical care.

- SAPA