NSW Man died with swine flu, Total 10

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NSW man died with swine flu

Australian Associated Press

We are waiting on formal findings from the coroner to determine the degree to which H1N1 may have contributed to the death.

Health authorities say a 45-year-old man with underlying medical conditions who died in a western Sydney hospital on Monday tested positive for swine flu.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the man died in Nepean Hospital Intensive Care Unit, but it hasn't been confirmed whether human swine influenza caused his death.

"We are waiting on formal findings from the coroner to determine the degree to which H1N1 may have contributed to the death," Dr Chant said in a statement.

The 45-year-old is the 10th person with swine flu to die in Australia, with seven victims coming from Victoria.

Dr Chant said the announcement of the death was delayed while the man's family was notified.

"The details of the man's death can be released now that his family has been notified of the initial findings and counsellors have offered them assistance," Dr Chant said.

"Because of underlying medical conditions, this man was at greater risk of severe illness from H1N1 influenza 09 and I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the family."

Dr Chant said people with severe symptoms such as breathing difficulties, people with underlying medical conditions, pregnant women and Aborigines who develop flu-like symptoms should seek medical assistance.

She also said anyone with flu symptoms should seek medical assistance if their condition deteriorates.

"For the majority of people, influenza (whether seasonal or H1N1 influenza 09) can be managed at home," Dr Chant said.

"Staying away from work, school and other public places until you have recovered will help limit the spread of influenza."

As of Thursday, NSW has recorded 1,079 cases of swine flu, with the national tally now at 4,568, NSW Health said.

http://www.livenews.com.au/feature/nsw-man-died-with-swine-flu/2009/7/2/211736

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Re: NSW Man died with swine flu, Total 10

Swine flu cases rise to 1157
Louise Hall Health Reporter
July 4, 2009

SWINE FLU is continuing to spread throughout NSW with four people in intensive care, 22 in hospital and 1157 confirmed with the virus, although the real figure is likely to be much higher, health authorities say.

The NSW chief health officer, Kerry Chant, said most people with influenza will recover without treatment and do not need any testing and should stay home until their symptoms subside.

However, a senior clinical adviser to NSW Health's chronic disease program, Ron Penny, said anyone with flu symptoms or lung disease should wear face masks.

"If you look at images taken in Japan and China and so forth, all the people who've got symptoms are wearing masks," Professor Penny said. "I've tried to introduce these but culturally we're not ready for it."

There are almost 5000 cases of influenza A (H1N1) 09 confirmed across Australia and 10 people with the virus have died.

The Federal Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, said a sample of 3000 swabs sent to various pathology laboratories found about one in six were positive for the novel H1N1 virus, while many others were seasonal influenza.

She said sentinel testing, introduced as part of the "protect" phase of the pandemic plan, had not found any significant mutation of the virus or the emergence of a strain resistant to anti-viral medication, such as Tamiflu.

But indigenous people appear to be more susceptible. Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders account for 3.5 per cent of cases and 5 per cent of hospitalisations.

A review published in the medical journal The Lancet this week said the high rates of smoking, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes in indigenous populations rendered them more vulnerable to swine flu.

Michael Gracey, a medical adviser to the Aboriginal organisation The Unity of First People of Australia, said the death of a young desert-dwelling Aboriginal man with underlying medical conditions "highlights the susceptibility of large numbers of indigenous people to such infections".

"Many Aboriginal people died even in very remote parts of Australia during the great influenza pandemic of 1918," he said.

Meanwhile, in a stinging article in the Medical Journal Of Australia on Thursday, a Melbourne doctor, Peter Eizenberg, said deficiencies in the implementation of the national pandemic plan has made the role of front-line doctors "extremely difficult".

He said doctors did not receive personal protective equipment fast enough, test results were delayed by up to three weeks and communication about government policy changes was unclear.

"It is only due to the low virulence of the virus that this pandemic has merely stressed our local service delivery and not completely paralysed both our and the statewide response," his report says.

But the federal chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, said the national response was "appropriate, proportionate and successful".

A survey of 638 people released yesterday found more than half were only "a little bit concerned" about swine flu, while one-third were not concerned at all.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/swine-flu-cases-rise-to-1157-20090703-d7sb.html