Severe cases of swine flu requiring intensive care are on the rise this week. This has prompted a warning for the vulnerable to be vaccinated. NSW Health Communicable Diseases Branch director Dr Jeremy McAnulty said that the cases appear to be caused by the flu strain that caused the 2009 pandemic.
NSW Health said seven confirmed and one suspected case of severe influenza had so far been reported for the last half of July in NSW. The age of the patients ranged in age from 25 to 58 with 4 males and 4 females.
Dr McAnulty said, “Monitoring is indicating that the trend is increasing and these cases serve as a warning for us all to get prepared.” He urged pregnant, those with chronic medical conditions, cancer sufferers and people with HIV, asthma, diabetes and the obese to get vaccinated. He added, “We're hopeful however that because people got infected last year, perhaps 20 or 30 per cent of the population got infected from the pandemic last year and another proportion has been vaccinated, then we won't see as severe a season as this year…But we don't know that for sure and we know if you're not protected through immunity, then you are at risk of getting infection.”
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