Mexican Swine Influenza - Update 30 April 2009 | infonews.co.nz New Zealand News

Please attribute to Dr Fran McGrath, Deputy Director of Public Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the current level of influenza pandemic alert from four to five.

Based on assessment of all available information and following several expert consultations, Dr Margaret Chan, WHO's Director General raised the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to 5. She stated that all countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans. At this stage, effective and essential measures include heightened surveillance, early detection and treatment of cases, and infection control in all health facilities.

Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

In total, 33 countries have notified WHO of suspected or confirmed cases.

World Health Organization

8 deaths - 7 Mexico and 1 in United States
148 cases confirmed internationally from nine* countries including Mexico and USA.
*The nine countries are USA, Mexico, Austria, Canada, Germany, Israel, NZ, Spain, UK.

What does this means for New Zealand?

New Zealand's status is Code Yellow. We are currently in Phase 5.1.

More information on New Zealand's pandemic plan can be accessed on the Swine Flu webpage.

New Zealand is not escalating its plan at the moment. Our actions are to limit any spread of Swine Flu that has come to New Zealand. We have taken a precautionary approach from the start.

The numbers

This morning's situation report shows there are 16 people who are being treated as having Swine Flu.

As at 9:00am this morning we have been advised of 104 suspected cases being assessed to see whether they might have Swine Flu. These are people who have developed symptoms of influenza within seven days of having been in the areas of concern or are contacts of cases and have symptoms.

There are now 104 people with suspected cases of Swine Flu. These are people who display flu symptoms and have travelled through areas of concern, or who are contacts of cases.

In addition, there are 111 cases with flu symptoms who are in isolation and being treated with Tamiflu. The total number of people in isolation is believed to be much higher, as each of the 111 people is likely to have close family contacts who live in the same household.

If you're feeling unwell....

Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr Fran McGrath, said if you have symptoms of influenza and haven’t travelled in the affected areas in the seven days before becoming ill, do what you’d usually do - there is no cause for concern. Stay home, drink plenty of fluids and take panadol for pain or fever. If necessary phone your doctor for further advice.

However, if you have returned from Mexico or the USA in the past seven days, and start to develop symptoms of influenza you should phone a health professional for further advice as soon as you start feeling unwell.

Anyone wanting more information should call Healthline 0800 611 116.

Symptoms of influenza

Symptoms of influenza include:

Sudden onset of illness
Fever above 38 degrees Celsius
Fatigue
Muscle pains
Runny nose/cough/sore throat

In some cases, people also have vomiting and diarrhoea.

“The vaccination for seasonal influenza is unlikely to protect you from swine influenza, however, I would encourage people to have an influenza immunisation as it’s something they can do to help themselves stay healthy.

“Currently there is no vaccination for Swine Flu,” Dr McGrath said.

Protecting yourself from influenza

“The most important thing we can do to protect ourselves is regular and effective hand washing. When coughing or sneezing cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. Afterwards promptly dispose of the tissue and wash your hands.

Keep your hands away from your mouth, nose, ears and eyes as mucous membranes can let the virus in to your body through your airways or eyes.

Border control

Every international flight coming to New Zealand from affected areas is being screened. Public health information is being read out on board these flights. This information can be found in the Travel Advisory section of the Swine Flu webpage.

Update from Auckland Regional Public Health

The latest figures on confirmed, probable and suspected swine flu cases in New Zealand show an increase in both probable and suspected cases. One of the new probable cases had been in New Zealand for more than a week before presenting to health authorities.

The figures are accurate to 9.30am Thursday, April 30.

Confirmed cases: 3

These people have had their swabs confirmed as showing swine flu by the World Health Organisation laboratory in Melbourne.
Each of these people are Rangitoto College students, who arrived in Auckland on flight NZ 1 on Saturday April 25.

Probable cases: 13

These people have been tested positive for influenza type A and have either come from an infected area or have been in close contact with a probable or confirmed case.

Ten of these people were passengers on flight NZ 1. Nine of those passengers were part of the Rangitoto College group, one was an NZ 1 passenger but was not part of the school group. These 10 people are being treated as if they are confirmed.

Two of the other three people were on flights other than the April 25 flights NZ 1 or NZ 5. The third person is a child of one of those passengers.

Suspected cases: 63

These people are showing flu-like symptoms and have either been in close contact with probable or confirmed cases, or have come from an infected area. They have not yet been confirmed as having influenza type A. All have had swabs taken and been treated with Tamiflu and are in isolation.

Five share a household with a probable or confirmed person
53 arrived on international flights and are New Zealand residents. They have been quarantined to their homes.
Five have arrived on other flights and are not New Zealand residents. They have been provided quarantined accommodation.

Swine Influenza Update (0900, Thursday 30 April, 2009)

Public Health Unit	Isolation & treated with Tamiflu	Suspected	Probable	Confirmed by WHO Lab	Cases currently in hospital
Northland Primary and Community Health
Auckland RPH Services	72	63	13	3
Waikato PHU	2	2
Toi Te Ora PHU (BoP, Lakes)
Tairawhiti PHU
Hawkes Bay PHU	2	2
Taranaki PHU	2	2
Mid Central PHU (MidCentral, Whanganui)	7	7
Hutt Valley RPH (Wellington / Hutt / Wairarapa)	16	18
Nelson PHU	8	8
Christchurch (Chch, West Coast, South Canterbury)	2	2
Public Health South (Otago, Southland)
Total for New Zealand	111	104	13	3

Please note - these figures are not cumulative.

Definitions

Isolation includes all cases and contacts in isolation or quarantine (do not include hospital isolation). It refers to the number of cases, the actual number of people in isolation may be higher as it includes the people in the suspected category, plus their close family members.
Suspected is all people who display flu symptoms AND have travelled through areas of concern, or are contacts of cases.
Probable are all suspected cases that test positive for Influenza A – all these cases are being treated as confirmed for the purposes of treatment.

ENDS

Mexican Swine Influenza - Update 30 April 2009