Deadly swine flu resurgent

Influenza activity is beginning to jump in the Waikato, with 59 people admitted to hospital in the past week with various winter ailments, including the deadly swine flu.

Seventeen of these had swine flu.

The virus reached pandemic levels last winter and has made a return this year.

A 51-year-old North Island man died of swine flu this month. He had underlying health complications.

Waikato District Health Board medical officer of health Anita Bell said the latest tally of cases was only the beginning of what was expected to come in the next few weeks.

"We get lots of flu cases each year," Dr Bell said. "At the moment these cases are not that different to what we have seen in previous years but the [number of] cases we are now seeing is beginning to rise."

Most people stayed at home when they caught the flu and many of those wouldn't receive much treatment, she said.

"Severe cases can be given tamiflu or another anti-viral. It generally lasts between seven to 10 days."

Waikato Hospital clinical microbiologist Dr Chris Mansell is expecting the number of swine flu cases to worsen in a short time.

"It is a very hard virus to predict. I would expect a reasonable number of people to catch swine flu this year." Each year the flu vaccine is adapted based on predictions about which type of flu people are likely to be susceptible to.

The virus was more common in children and people under the age of 65.

"We are waiting for numbers to double and hopefully the picture will be a lot clearer in terms of establishing further research on the virus, depending on the number of cases there are. This is just the beginning," Dr Mansell said.

Hamilton was two to three weeks behind the rest of the country in terms of flu spread. The virus tended to stick around for three to four weeks.

"It is something that is built up in an exponential state, that takes action rather quickly and no-one knows why it goes away after a short period of time."

The Health Ministry advises anyone who thinks they may have come into contact with someone carrying the flu to be vigilant. If they developed flu-like symptoms they should stay at home.

If their condition worsens, they should seek medical advice.

Samantha McPherson is a Wintec journalism student.

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