Five more cases of H1N1 flu confirmed

FIVE more cases of the H1N1 flu virus, commonly known as ‘swine flu’, have been confirmed since Thursday, bringing the national total of laboratory-confirmed cases to 57.

Three of the five cases come from Windhoek.They are a 17-year-old boy, a 25-year-old man, and a 24-year-old woman.The other two cases are a 20-year-old man from Otjiwarongo and a 23-year-old woman at Oshakati. So far, 298 cases have been tested, and results for 40 cases are being awaited.Gladys Kamboo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services, has confirmed that all five of the latest flu patients are doing well and are at home.Only one death in the country has been confirmed to have been flu related.On the international front, in its latest flu update, the World Health Organisation reported that over 277 607 cases of the flu have been confirmed globally through laboratory testing, while at least 3 205 flu-related deaths have resulted. The WHO states, however, that ‘Given that countries are no longer required to test and report individual cases, the number of cases reported actually understates the real number of cases.’The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported this week that following an analysis of 36 fatal pandemic influenza cases in children under the age of 18 years, ’67 per cent of the children had one or more high-risk medical conditions, most commonly neurodevelopmental disorders. In addition, 10 of 23 children for whom data were available were found to have strong evidence of secondary bacterial co-infections.’Symptoms of the flu include fever, coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches and headache, chills, fatigue, and diarrhoea and vomiting in some cases.nangula@namibian.com.na