NZ Article Strength of swine flu has been underestimated - experts
http://www.3news.co.nz/News/HealthNews/Strength-of-swine-flu-has-been-underestimated-—experts/tabid/420/articleID/112145/cat/58/Default.aspx
11 Jul 2009
The number of confirmed deaths from swine flu has risen to seven, with confirmation today a Taranaki man died from the virus.
The latest death comes as experts are warning we may be being too complacent about H1N1 – it is now the dominant strain affecting 75 percent of all flu patients.
If you are not one of the 1,500 people currently sick with swine flu, chances are you are sick of hearing about it – but experts say now is not the time to be complacent.
Virologist Sue Huang says in the last week, swine flu has become the dominant strain.
“It has jumped from around 15, 20 percent three weeks ago, now it is around 78 percent,” she says.
New research shows we may have been underestimating the strength of swine flu, and that approximately as many people are dying from it in countries like Canada and the United States as were in the first flush in Mexico.
Mathematical Biologist Professor Mick Roberts has been mathematically tracking the virus and says it is too early to say exactly how deadly this strain is.
“Flu has a nasty habit of mutating and changing, therefore we just have to wait and see,” he says.
The spike in cases has seen hospitals implementing new measures to try and manage the epidemic.
At Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital they are restricting the number of visitors per patient to two, in the hope of reducing the risk of the virus being brought into the hospital.
They are restricting – where possible – the entry of children under five.
“The issue with kids under five is that unlike adults they are not so good at blowing their nose and washing their hands,” says Chief Medical Officer Don Mackey.
“So they’re actually quite potent carriers of the flu around the place.”
Middlemore is the first hospital to implement these measures, but 3 News understand other Hospitals have similar plans, which could be in place as early as next week.
Have you guys seen this thread?
DvdMom has been doing a great job of keeping everyone updated with articles from different sources for this thread.
It looks like the swine flu is getting ready to hit hard this fall and winter. It might be good for people to keep in mind as they’re making their survival preparations.
If this is as bad as it has the potential to be, it would be good to be able to hole up at home and be able to not have to go ANYWHERE for an extended period of time.