Third case of H1N1 confirmed in Namibia

ANOTHER case of the H1N1 flu virus, commonly known as swine flu, has been confirmed at Rehoboth. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Namibia to three.

At a meeting of the National Health Emergency Management Committee (NHEMC) yesterday, Dr Henriette Roux of the Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) related that the swab of the mother of the 13-year old boy from Rehoboth who contracted the virus in South Africa last week, was confirmed positive.The young boy, who had visited South Africa as part of a rugby team trip, was one of the first two cases confirmed in the country. The second case, reported in Windhoek, was of a 28-year-old woman who had travelled from Europe. All three confirmed cases are being treated with the antiviral drug, Tamiflu, which the Ministry of Health and Social Services has stockpiled as a response measure to the global flu pandemic.The positive result was one of 10 swabs sent last week to the
National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa for testing. The other nine all returned negative results.In the meantime, the NIP is also awaiting results for eight more swabs sent to the NICD from across the country for testing. Of the eight, four were sent on Tuesday, and another four on Wednesday.The NHEMC, headed by Dr. Jack Vries, also conveyed yesterday that a room has been assigned at the Robert Mugabe Clinic in Windhoek for flu screening. Anyone with concerns of exposure to the flu, or showing symptoms of the H1N1 flu virus – i.e. fever ((≥ 38’C), cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue – is encouraged to present themselves for screening at the clinic.In addition to measures already taken by the Committee, clinical guides for the management of pandemic H1N1 are also being distributed to state and private doctors across the country. To date, infections in Africa now total over 300, with Egypt leading the pack with over 130 confirmed cases, followed by South Africa with 119 cases. nangula@namibian.com.na