More cases of H1N1 flu in SA
2009-06-29 09:04
Johannesburg – Another two cases of H1N1 (swine) flu were reported in South Africa on Friday afternoon.
This raises the number of recorded cases of influenza A in the country to four.
A person from Gauteng and another from the Western Cape - both adults who had travelled home from London and the USA respectively - were recovering at home after being diagnosed with the virus.
National health department spokesperson, Fidel Hadebe, said the patient who had travelled from London, showed “flu-like symptoms” on Wednesday (June 24) and the diagnosis was confirmed two days later. He couldn’t release the patient’s details.
The other patient, a 51-year-old woman from Worcester, flew to South Africa on June 20. She went to her doctor with flu symptoms and the virus was also diagnosed on Friday.
Hadebe said both were doing well, and were being cared for at home in line with health department and World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
He said they had to find all the people that they had been in contact with, for treatment and counselling.
Don't panic
The department asked the public not to panic. “The fact that cases are found and results (of tests) are made known within a short period of time, shows the country’s readiness and ability to react to the H1N1 pandemic.”
Faiza Steyn, spokesperson of the department of health, said the Worcester woman was the first case of H1N1 flu in the Western Cape. She wanted to remain anonymous.
The woman had returned home with her 80-year-old father after a holiday in the USA.
"She still felt well on the plane, but saw her general practitioner in Worcester after she started feeling ill the next day."
Everyone that she had been in contact with, was also tested. Her father tested negative for the illness.
The WHO said on Friday that there were 59 814 laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 in more than 100 countries, with 163 fatalities.
This included 21 449 cases (87 deaths) in the USA, 8 279 cases (116 deaths) in Mexico, 6 732 cases (19 deaths) in Canada, 5 186 cases (seven deaths) in Chile, 3 280 cases (three deaths) in Australia and 1 391 cases (21 deaths) in Argentina.
The WHO raised the alert level for the illness from level 5 to 6 on June 11. Level 6 means a pandemic in WHO terminology.
The influenza A virus is completely new and H1N1 has not previously been detected among people.
First two cases in SA
Brian Liebenberg, 29, a member of the French Barbarian rugby team, was South Africa’s second H1N1 case. He became ill during a tour in Argentina.
Liebenberg arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday with light flu symptoms, but immediately went for tests when he heard that four of his teammates had been diagnosed with the virus.
A week ago, the illness was diagnosed in Aleksey Goussard, 12, who was visiting his father and grandparents in Pretoria. Aleksey, the country’s first H1N1 case, lives with his mother in San José in California.