Swine Flu in Africa

indigo girl · Aug 25, 2009

http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2009/08/south-africa-increase-in-h1n1-death-rate-alarming.html

There have been reports from northern Africa for a few months now, but little from the rest of the continent where the flu is beginning to have some impact.

Swine flu in SA could well outlast the winter season and kill more people than a seasonal flu virus, a virologist said yesterday.
Prof Robert Bragg of the University of the Free State was reacting to a statement from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases yesterday, which confirmed 18 people had died after having contracted the H1N1 virus.
"It is a worrying factor that the mortality rate is picking up so quickly. If the virus were to progress beyond the winter season, it might go above the level of normal seasonal death. So far, indications are that the virus is ... gaining strength, " he said.
Bragg said people had to realise the virus was becoming a potential danger to lives, and that they should be in touch with their medical practitioners.
The institute yesterday confirmed that 5118 people had been infected with swine flu in SA. Nine of the 18 people who had died were pregnant woman -- most of them in the third trimester of pregnancy.
"Pregnancy has been identified as a particular risk factor for severe H1N1 illness in many other countries.... It is critical that infection should receive particular attention in any pregnant woman with influenza-like illness ," the institute said.