Flu season ends, cold weather lasts
WHILE the weather is expected to be icy cold today, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says the debilitating flu season is coming to an end.
Spokesperson Sinehlanhla Jimoh said the season started in April but was now declining.
She said that the institute’s Viral Watch had seen a decline to a low level, and impact measured using the pneumonia surveillance programme was currently below the seasonal threshold.
Today, temperatures are set to plummet with heavy snow, strong winds and heavy rainfall being forecast in parts of the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape. Temperatures are expected to fall to about 16ºC in Gauteng today.
Jimoh said that this season the most prevalent strains identified in 92% of influenza-positive samples were influenza A(H3N2), influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, and influenza B.
Jimoh said that while patients could die of flu, they didn’t yet have numbers for this season.
There have been reports that Giselle Dariele Chetty, 9, from Pietermaritzburg died after contracting the H1N1 flu virus. Her little brother, who also has the virus, is still in hospital.
The H1N1 strain of the virus first infected people in 2009 and was called swine flu. The World Health Organisation declared the strain of the virus a pandemic in 2009.
Jimoh said: “There have been several recent media reports of outbreaks of so-called “swine flu” in schools. The term “swine flu” is an incorrect term as this refers to a disease of pigs. This term is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to the influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 influenza subtype that emerged in 2009. This subtype of influenza is a normal seasonal influenza strain and behaves like any other type of influenza.”
While cautioning against hysteria around the H1N1 virus, she said: “Although the majority of people with influenza will present with mild illness, influenza may cause severe illness, which may require hospitalisation or cause death.
“Groups at increased risk of severe complications of influenza include pregnant women, HIV-infected people, people with chronic illnesses or conditions like diabetes, lung disease, tuberculosis, heart disease, renal disease and obesity, the elderly and children less than 2 years old. These groups should be encouraged to seek medical help early,” she said.