Durban - South Africa is in the grip of its annual influenza season and experts say that 7 million people are expected to be hit this winter.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), an estimated 9 500 people will die as a result of influenza during this period.
The influenza virus has already claimed the lives of several people across KwaZulu-Natal and hundreds more throughout the country.
Three members of a Chatsworth family were quarantined at two Durban hospitals for chronic influenza, a strain of what had been called swine flu – days after a relative died from the virus.
“It feels like our whole lives were turned upside-down,” said the 42-year-old Chatsworth mother who did not want to be named as she feared being stigmatised.
“My sister-in-law was the first to get the flu and had to be admitted to hospital. She was placed in ICU and later died on June 22. She was initially admitted for bronchial pneumonia but they did not pick up she had swine flu.
“Three days after being admitted she was transferred to ICU where she died. Unbeknown to all of us who went to visit her, she had the swine flu virus,” she said.
One day after burying her sister-in-law the 42-year-old caught the virus and a day later her husband came down with it. They were admitted to Entabeni Hospital. A third relative had to be admitted to St Augustine’s Hospital.
The woman believes they may have caught the virus while visiting her sister-in-law. “At first they did not isolate her but kept her in the ICU. We thought that because the staff were going in and out freely we could, too. We had no idea,” she said.
The woman said that the tests later conducted on her and her husband revealed they had contracted the swine flu virus.
“People need to know that this is going around and that it can kill,” she said.
However, Dr Cheryl Cohen, head of epidemiology at the NICD’s Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, said while the virus was initially called swine flu it has since become a normal flu virus.
“There are different strains and types of influenza, which lay people are calling swine flu, but it is actually called AH1N1,” Cohen said.
“This is the strain of influenza which was introduced to the human population in 2009. When it was first introduced people called it swine flu, because it was originally a virus that was in pigs. It has that name which has become common but that is not the correct name for the influenza strain. It is just a normal seasonal influenza strain,” she said.
“When it first occurred there was an outbreak but now this strain has been circulating for quite some time. It is similar to any other strain of seasonal influenza. It is not a special or different strain but similar to the seasonal influenza strains which we see ever year.”
Cohen said there were no proper records of the number of people who contract influenza each year, but estimated that between 5 million and 7 million people contract symptomatic infection due to influenza each year.
She said that, on average, about 9 500 people die each year because of influenza.
“Every year people will die of respiratory illness, especially in the winter. There is a wide range of influenza from mild to severe. It is not unexpected to have some deaths related to influenza,” Cohen said. “However, the data we have is that it is a normal influenza season as in previous years and there is no concern.”
Doctors are, however, warning pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic conditions to be particularly careful not to contract the influenza virus and, if they have not yet done so, to get vaccinated.
Last year about 850 000 vaccinations were carried out in the private sector and about the same number at state facilities, Cohen said.
The NICD said the annual influenza season started at the beginning of May.
While no official data is available, it is estimated that hundreds of people across KZN have contracted the virus and hundreds more had to be quarantined as it spread.
The institute said typical symptoms of influenza include the sudden onset of high fever, chills and sweats, muscle pain and a dry cough
“No specific treatment is generally required, but medication to reduce temperature and symptomatic relief may be used. Infected persons are infectious for up to seven days,” the institute said on its website.
“While most influenza illness is mild, complications (particularly pneumonia) are always a concern in persons with underlying conditions. These risk groups for severe influenza illness include pregnant women (all stages of pregnancy and up to two weeks after delivery), persons with chronic conditions (heart, lung, kidney, endocrine), for example diabetes or asthma, persons who are immunosuppressed, persons over 65 years of age, infants and young children under two years of age, and persons who are morbidly obese.”
The institute said people at risk for complications should receive specific anti-viral treatment if influenza symptoms develop to reduce the chances of complications. - Daily News