Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

The Ministry of Health is still reporting a significant number of swine flu cases.

There have been 609 hospitalisations of confirmed cases of the virus this year - and 14 people are currently in intensive care.

Sixteen deaths this year have been linked to swine flu.

Deputy director of public health Darren Hunt said recent information suggests that some regions may be starting to see a decline in influenza activity, especially in the North Island where most activity has been.

But he said it was too early to tell whether it's the start of a downward trend.

The World Health Organisation says that the swine flu problem is on the wane, but experts believe that the flu is again going to hit the region soon.

Influenza experts believe that this year the flu season has arrived late and are warning people of some deadly strains of the disease.

Alan Hampson, who is the Chairman of the Influenza Specialists Group, says that in the past three weeks there has been a rise in the influenza cases in New Zealand. He also said that the threat still exists and people need to be very careful.

According to the Government, as many as 609 hospitalisations of confirmed cases of the disease have been noted so far; 14 people are being treated in the intensive care unit and 16 have died because of this deadly virus.

People who are above 65 years are more vulnerable to this virus. Heart patients, pregnant women, diabetic patients, and people suffering from lung and kidney diseases are also the easy targets for swine flu virus.

It is mandatory for these high-risk groups to get the vaccination as early as possible.

Australia is also under the threat of swine flu. It is said that each year as many as 3,500 Australians die from influenza-related diseases.

Health officials are on alert after H1N1 (swine flu) may have caused another death in the Bay of Plenty.
The region's medical officer of health, Dr Phil Shoemack, says information about the death is limited at this stage because the Coroner is still investigating, but he understands the person died in August and is a Bay of Plenty resident.

Tauranga woman Lee Roche died in hospital on June 26 after contracting the virus.
"At any given time the Coroner will have a number of cases to decide on the course of death and I'm aware of one other case where the Coroner has not yet decided what the cause of death was. H1N1 is one of the possibilities," says Phil.
He says the Coroner's findings could take weeks or months.
The spread of H1N1 in the Bay of Plenty has reached its peak and is starting to peak off, says Phil.
"From the different surveillance systems we have, that's reporting from schools, from general practitioners that are part of a national system of flu surveillance and from the number of cases we get notified to us, it appears we are past the peak.
"It will be another week or two before we will be able to say that definitely, but it certainly appears that way," says Phil.

New Zealand incubating more potent swine flu
PrintEmail
Updated September 2, 2010 08:28:44

It may be a bit later than usual but this year's flu season is still to peak, and there is concern that swine flu is back in the Pacific. There has been a rise in flu cases in most of Australia while in New Zealand there has been a sharp increase in the number of swine flu cases.

Monitoring all of this is Dr Alan Hampson, chair of the Influenza Specialist Group.

He says that some even more potent strains are on the way because of the persistence of the flu in New Zealand.

Pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009 (swine flu) – Update
Friday, 3 September 2010, 9:49 am
Press Release: Ministry of Health
Pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009 (swine flu) – Update 205

Overall, national influenza H1N1 activity in the community now appears to be falling. However, there is still regional variation, with some areas experiencing high or increasing influenza activity. In the past week, for instance, there has been a continued increase in presentations of influenza-like illness to primary care in Canterbury.

The number of calls to Healthline is still higher than normal, though the number of calls requiring assessment of influenza-like illness seems to be decreasing.

As at midday Thursday, there have been 631 hospitalisations of laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1, including 14 people with confirmed H1N1 currently in intensive care. So far this year, a total of 102 people with confirmed H1N1 have been admitted to intensive care. These figures do not include influenza-like illness among people admitted to hospital without a positive H1N1 laboratory test result.

A Papamoa man has become the second Western Bay of Plenty person to die from swine flu complications this year.

The IT programmer died after being admitted to hospital with the virus.

A coroner's report, released late last week, found that Neil Ricketts, 53, died on August 1 after being admitted to Tauranga Hospital with flu-like symptoms.

He was then confirmed to have H1N1, also known as swine flu, and an antibiotic treatment commenced, coroner Tim Scott said. He found that H1N1 was the antecedent cause of death behind a direct cause of severe pneumonia.

Mr Ricketts was a competitive golfer and was runner up at Omanu Golf Club's junior championship last year.

Club captain Marnie Wineera said although Mr Ricketts had been a member briefly - he had shifted to the Bay just a few years ago and did not renew his membership this year - he had made a strong impression on many during his time with the club.

"He was a very social, friendly kind of guy and he'd always join us for a beer at our little alcove at the club after a round."

Family members of Mr Ricketts chose not to speak to the Bay of Plenty Times when contacted.

The death comes after another Papamoa resident, Lee Roche, died of H1N1 in July, becoming the first New Zealander to die of the strain in 2010.

Since then swine flu has claimed 16 lives and a further 14 people were fighting it in intensive care units yesterday.

At the Ministry of Health's last count, 631 people had been hospitalised with confirmed cases of swine flu.

So far this year 102 people with confirmed H1N1 have been admitted to intensive care.

..................................

Pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009 - Update 206
Monday, 6 September 2010, 5:26 pm
Press Release: Ministry of Health
Media Release
6 September 2010
Pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009 (swine flu) - Update 206

Influenza H1N1 activity reports are continuing to show a decline.

The number of influenza calls to Healthline is back to normal - currently at the same rate as in 2008 - the year before the pandemic. Though the picture is complicated by the Christchurch earthquake which has bumped up the number of calls to Healthline overall.

Since last Thursday's update, there has been one additional death linked to swine flu reported. This brings the total to date to 17. Thirteen of these deaths have so far been confirmed as being due to swine flu. Details of the latest death is reported on the Auckland DHB website.

......................

Swine flu has claimed its 17th life this winter, but the number of people being infected appears to be falling, the Ministry of Health says.

The number of influenza-related calls to Healthline was back to normal, although the overall number of calls had increased since Saturday's earthquake in Christchurch, ministry director of public health Mark Jacobs said.

At midday today, there were 648 confirmed cases of H1N1, including 11 people still in intensive care.

Thirteen of the 17 deaths have been confirmed as swine flu
............................

...............Swine flu circulates

As well as the earthquake, Christchurch is experiencing a relatively high rate of H1N1 swine flu virus circulating in the community.

Disruption to people's housing, or accommodation in welfare centres increases the risk of a larger outbreak, the civil defence ministry says on the ministry website.

Ample supplies of national reserve antivirals are available in the DHB area, and more can be supplied at any time.
...............................