swine flu spreading
Posted on May 30, 2009 by by racer
ABC News has reported there are now 254 cases of swine flu confirmed here in Australia with 173 of those being in Victoria. Â It’s now in the school system with 26 out of the 35 last confirmed cases being children. Â I can only assume that this means there is now going to be a large rise in the number of cases. Â But with some good news, a vaccine may be available in 8 week.
The ACT has now had a 4th case confirmed,
The ACT case is a 53 year old female who has been tested positive and was identified from contacts associated with the Pacific Dawn group who returned to Sydney and then Canberra this week. Â
This brings the total of confirmed human swine influenza cases in Australia as at 1800 AEST today to 254
The breakdown is: ACT 4, NSW 54, SA 6, Qld 15, Tas 1, Vic 173, WA 1, NT 0Â Â Â Â Health
The virus has been derived from 3 sources – 1/3 pig, 1/3 bird, and 1/3 human. Â So it is not just a human concern. Â We do have large industries in pigs and birds. Â Pig farmers are now having to be extra cautious by restricting workers who present with flu like symptoms from entering the farms.
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5 Comments to “swine flu spreading”
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254 cases with no mortality yet… just another seasonal flu.
Move on, Nothing to see here….
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I’ve been wondering the same – why such fuss over a flu that is only life-threatening to people with other health issues, just like any other bad flu would be?
I wonder if perhaps it was because of lack of accurate information when it first hit in Mexico; or perhaps this strain is more likely to mutate into something more dangerous. Would be good to hear more information about this in the media.
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Found a great audio interview on the ABC 666 site:
http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2009/05/28/2583107.htm?site=canberra&rotator=true
“One of Australia’s leading experts in infectious diseases and microbiology says the fearful reaction to swine flu is inconsistent with the severity of the disease.
Professor Peter Collignon, Infectious Diseases Physician and Microbiologist at the ANU Medical School told 666 Breakfast presenter Ross Solly the word pandemic implies an aggressive virus that will kill a large number of people, which is not the case with the H1N1 strain…”
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out of the near 600 cases in Australia at the moment, are any suffering real big health risks?? or are they just lucky to have to be quarantined at home for 7 days.
Id love to be forced to stay home for the next 7 days…..id get so much work done!
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I was told by a doctor that they are only making a big deal about it so that people become more aware of what is happening around the world and what measures to take. Also it is a way for the government and the department of health to train, doctors and nurses when a serious epidemic does happen in Australia. It is all for training purposes, just another flue being used by the government and the department of health and also it gives the department of health more work because I am very sure that there are hundreds of people writing to the minister for health every day.
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