No H1N1 in Nam yet; tests being done on 3 new suspected cases

ALL of the eight suspected cases of H1N1, commonly known as ‘swine flu’, reported to health authorities so far this year have tested negative.
This was confirmed yesterday by Dr Henriette Roux, Clinical Pathologist of the Namibia Institute of Pathology and member of the National Health Emergency Management Committee (NHEMC).

The eight cases, which were reported by people who had travelled to China, Europe, the United States and Mexico, were presented at hospitals in Windhoek, Okahandja and Tsumeb.But while all have tested negative, swab samples for another three suspected cases have been sent to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa, bringing the total number of suspected cases reported to date to 11.Chairman of the NHEMC, Dr Jack Vries, told The Namibian that the three new suspected cases were reported to health authorities in Walvis Bay on Thursday, and in Tsumeb and Windhoek yesterday. Vries said that all three have recent histories of travel.Test results from the NICD are expected this week.Meanwhile, despite the good news of the negative test results, the NHEMC continues to remain vigilant of developments on this front, with Namibia’s southern neighbour, South Africa, having already reported 75 confirmed cases of H1N1.NICD Executive Director, Barry Schoub, says ‘there are probably many more (cases)’, with Dr Frew Benson, of South Africa’s National department of Health saying that: ‘The problem in Africa is that the surveillance systems are not as good as in the western world … there will be more cases.’ The NICD has expressed concern at how South Africa might manage a major outbreak, with the AFP reporting on Monday that ‘NICD warned that South Africa was a unique case among other countries hit by swine flu, because the nation has the world’s highest HIV caseload’.Worldwide, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has to date reported close to 95 000 laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic flu across 135 countries, and 429 deaths.nangula@namibian.com.na