Vuyo Mkhize
JOHANNESBURG: The strain of influenza which caused a global pandemic in 2009 may be doing the rounds again this year, but there is no reason to panic.
So says Dr Cheryl Cohen of the Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
According to the institute’s monitoring programme, which informs on the circulating strains of the influenza virus, influenza A (H1N1) – commonly referred to as “swine flu”– accounted for 51.4 percent of confirmed cases of flu this season and is one of several circulating strains.
The virus was first identified in 2009 and became known as swine flu because it closely resembled known influenza viruses in pigs.
“One of the main confusions is the use of the term swine flu. In 2009, it was a new strain of flu introduced to humans. It spread rapidly, causing the global outbreak.
“Because it was new in humans, there was no immunity or resistance as no one had been exposed to it; but now, a majority of people have had it over the last six years and it behaves like any normal flu,” Cohen said.
The NICD said in a recent communiqué that “currently in 2015, this strain of influenza behaves just like any normal seasonal influenza strain”.
The statement read: “Identification of patients with this strain during the influenza season should be treated as we would any other influenza case, and there is no specific public health intervention recommended.”
In the majority of people, flu is an uncomplicated illness lasting three to seven days.
It is characterised by the sudden onset of respiratory symptoms such as fever, body pains, coughs, sore throat, runny nose and headache.
The symptoms came on suddenly for Cape Times sister paper The Star’s revise sub-editor, Andrea Bryce, who said she experienced a cough at work last week.
“The worst was the body ache which started on Wednesday. On Thursday, I went to the doctor, who immediately suspected it was swine flu because my temperature was above 38 degrees. He sent me for a test at Flora Clinic and they came back confirming I had it,” she said yesterday.
Cohen said that, as with any strain of flu, it was highly contagious, and spread by sneezing and coughing as well as touching surfaces that infected people had touched.
“Most people will have a relatively mild illness and a small proportion will be admitted to hospital, as with any other year.”
The NICD advised general preventative precautions such as handwashing, coughing into one’s elbow instead of hands and avoiding contact with people who were ill.
People at an increased risk include pregnant women, young children, the elderly and people with certain health conditions such as heart, lung, kidney or nervous system disorders.