SHOOT: Being infected with a mild swine flu may provide some immunity to a stronger wave that many believe is likely.
At the end of the week the official death toll from swine flu was eight, with a ninth death in Gauteng officially unconfirmed. The institute said that of the eight confirmed deaths, three had been pregnant. Four had no underlying conditions while one had hypertension and was diabetic.
More than 3 500 people have been infected in South Africa to date.
Puren conceded that figures available for South Africa were largely for urban populations. "But we have had some reports from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal which indicate that the pandemic is wider spread than urban."
Puren said it was difficult to predict whether the pandemic would return in a second or third wave, as was experienced in other countries, and whether a second wave would be more serious. Paradoxically, people may be more immune to the virus by the time it returns.
The pandemic virus is currently susceptible to both of these drugs (known as neuraminidase inhibitors) |
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