Swine flu Skiers

Almost one million Australians a year come to New Zealand and 90,000 arrived in April alone, with tens of thousands more expected during the ski season.

"Think of all the Australians planning their ski trips to New Zealand with Melbourne recently described as the swine flu capital of the world," Mr Ebert said.

"This flu has the potential to be much nastier than the usual ones, as the population has little familiarity with it," BNZ economist Craig Ebert said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/swine-flu/2503024/Swine-flu-a-threat-to-economic-activity

Aussie skiers pose risk of infection

Canterbury medical officer of health Dr Alistair Humphrey said Christchurch and Queenstown airports had systems in place to detect passengers with suspected influenza.

Any passengers showing flu symptoms were tested and quarantined until results were confirmed, he said.
Despite this, it was inevitable those yet to show symptoms would slip through border controls, especially with the influx of Australian skiers, Humphrey said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2474431/Aussie-skiers-pose-risk-of-infection

Firm sends staff home after swine flu outbreak

A seafood processing plant has sent all of its staff home after two workers contracted swine flu.

Seafood Products Ltd, which has around 100 workers, had hoped to continue production after its first worker tested positive for swine flu. The Christchurch company operates both day and night shifts.

However one staff member from each shift has now been confirmed with swine flu resulting in all workers being sent home.

The highly infectious A/H1N1 virus appears to be rapidly moving through schools, reflecting the path it took in places like Japan and Victoria. It is not known if this is simply because of the high degree of social contact in schools or if it is characteristic of the virus.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10578688

Hundreds in isolation as swine flu takes hold

Hundreds of Christchurch families are in isolation and two people have been hospitalised with swine flu as the virus spreads across New Zealand.

Christchurch's Bromley School yesterday closed for seven days, while Linwood College and Linwood Intermediate sent scores of pupils into isolation.

A further 94 workers from Woolston company Sea Products were quarantined at home for three days.

A second company is likely to face quarantine measures today.

They follow 77 pupils and teachers from Burnside High School and 59 from the Tino E Tasi preschool already in quarantine.

Last night, Linwood College, a school of nearly 1000 pupils, cancelled its open night after one Year 9 student was confirmed with swine flu.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/2506546/Hundreds-in-isolation-as-swine-flu-takes-hold

Swine Virus rampant in Canterbury

Cantabrians are being hit with a double whammy of swine flu and seasonal influenza as GPs don masks and gowns to stave off infection.

Canterbury virologist Dr Lance Jennings said the influenza season had "kicked in", with many cases of swine flu and the two strains of seasonal influenza being picked up.

Every year an average 400 people nationwide die from influenza.

It was likely, with the combination of the more contagious and nasty swine flu with seasonal influenza, that this year's total could be higher, Jennings said.

It was likely elective surgery would have to be postponed if too many hospital staff became unwell, he said.

Elective surgery in Canterbury was cancelled for three weeks in 1996 when the region struggled with a particularly nasty bout of influenza, Jennings said.

People with swine flu were contagious for up to two days before showing symptoms so health workers unknowingly be exposed, he said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/2524969/Virus-rampant-in-Canterbury

CDHB Swine Flu Update 24 June 2009

Cantabrians worried about their influenza symptoms are being urged to telephone the Canterbury Flu Line instead of turning up without an appointment at Flu Centres across the region.

A total of 140 people were yesterday seen at the Christchurch Flu Centre, which today tripled in size to cope with future demand. There were also a total of 957 calls to the Canterbury Flu Line yesterday, with most people being given advice over the telephone, rather than being booked for an appointment.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0906/S00151.htm

Swine flu unstoppable, leaves woman critical

The swine flu has taken a dangerous turn as it continues to sweep across New Zealand.

A 30-year-old woman with the virus is fighting for her life

And health officials on Friday gave up their battle to contain the virus and shifted their focus to managing the spread of the illness.

New Zealand now has 216 cases of the H1N1 virus with a further 643 suspected cases, nearly all in the three largest cities.

She has contracted swine flu and is now listed as critical as a result, the first patient to become gravely ill with the virus in New Zealand.

And in a sign of how seriously health officials in Christchurch are taking the rise in the number of cases, they have opened the country's first community-based assessment centre, or Cbac, in the city centre to treat an expected influx of patients presenting with symptoms.

Volunteer doctors and nurses in the country's first Cbac are taking no chances, wearing masks and gowns, ready for an influx of flu cases.

"These masks carry a much higher degree of safety if someone coughs in your direction or sneezes," says a doctor.

http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/swine-flu-unstoppable-leaves-woman-critical-2790844

Christchurch Hospital to isolate swine flu sufferers

Christchurch Hospital will isolate swine flu sufferers in single rooms off a general medical ward if they need hospitalisation.

The flu centre expects to treat several hundred people a day in the coming weeks.

A spokesperson for the clinic says a steady stream of people arrived at the central city centre on Saturday, where they were treated by volunteer nurses and doctors.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/06/20/1245b645f4c1

Swine flu hits prison unit:

An entire unit at Rimutaka Prison has been put in quarantine after an outbreak of swine flu. Swine flu spreading 'everywhere

http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/nz-prisoners-quarantined-over-swine-flu-20090618-cikm.html

Flu experience full of nasty surprises

Hamilton student Michael Fresnel found out first-hand what it's like to have suspected swine flu.

I was isolated for suspected swine flu a few days ago people's responses as I walked around Hamilton on my way to isolation, with a mask covering my face, were most interesting.

Think leprosy in the good old days.

Funny looks, people stepping back just a little, one of my closest friends shutting the door in my face.

Without a doubt, swine flu has become a scary topic in New Zealand no-one wants to get it and every little cough brings a comment of: "Hope it's not swine flu," followed by that nervous laugh.

I can see how a flu could kill someone; my chest was constantly getting gunked up and it would get harder to breathe if I didn't keep coughing it up. I was getting fatigued from the constant coughing.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2530511/Flu-experience-full-of-nasty-surprises

Hybrid A/H1N1 flu tied to genetic trigger for larger, mutated version

WMR previously reported on the genetic manipulation of the 1918 flu from tissue extracted from an Inuit woman who died from the pandemic in Alaska. On May 6, WMR reported: “WMR has obtained information from biological researchers that the 1918 Spanish flu genetic sequences were ‘manipulated’ in order to effect transmission capability.

WMR has now learned from virus researchers that the current A-H1N1 strain strongly appears tied to vaccinations for the seasonal form on influenza. The hybrid flu began in countries where seasonal vaccinations are commonplace and where A-H1N1 did not respond to the normal seasonal flu vaccination antibody, according to researchers studying the new virus.

What has some researchers alarmed is that the engineers of A-H1N1 purposely planned to make the virus non-responsive to any available vaccine. There is also a suspicion by researchers that the A-H1N1 vaccine under development will trigger a more deadly mutated form of the virus for which the A-H1N1 vaccine will be ineffective.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4837.shtml

School absence rates rocket

New Zealand's swine flu tally rose to 386 yesterday, though health officials say the real number is likely to be in the thousands, as regional authorities have stopped routine testing.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/2532829/School-absence-rates-rocket

Tamiflu sales 74 times higher than usual

Tamiflu sales in New Zealand have reached 74,000 packets - 74 times more than normal winter sales.

Mr Knight said he shared concerns that swine flu could mutate with a Tamiflu-resistant strain of influenza.

"What nobody wants is a Tamiflu-resistant virus [to mix] with swine flu."

Environmental Science and Research virologist Sue Huang, head of the World Health Organisation national influenza centre in Upper Hutt, said earlier this week that scientists feared what would happen if swine flu mutated and developed resistance to Tamiflu.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/swine-flu/2532834/Tamiflu-sales-74-times-higher-than-usual

Swine flu will become "very widespread" in NZ

Swine flu is going to become very widespread but there are resources and plans in place to deal with it, Health Minister Tony Ryall told Parliament today.

"I have been advised that this flu will become very widespread -- the number of confirmed cases has grown by a fifth overnight."

Mr Ryall said the rate of spread would put pressure on hospital emergency departments and GP clinics in particular.

"For example, there may well be lengthier delays in emergency departments and some surgery may need to be deferred because of pressure on hospital beds and staff."

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/swine-flu-will-become-very-widespread-nz-ryall-104040

New Zealand has first critically ill swine flu patient

A 30-year-old New Zealand woman was reported to be critically ill with swine flu on Friday as the Health Ministry officially accepted that the disease had spread so widely that it could not contain it.

The patient was the first New Zealander to be put into intensive care with the illness.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1484522.php/New_Zealand_has_first_critically_ill_swine_flu_patient_

Swine flu cases jump in New Zealand

New Zealand confirmed 28 new cases Sunday, the largest jump in a single day since the first case was confirmed in late April, raising the country's total to 71.

Deputy Director of Public Health Dr. Darren Hunt said that for the first time some cases were not linked to travel, a signal that there was community transmission in some areas.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/06/14/swine-flu-cases-jump-new-zealand.html

New Zealand abandons attempts to contain swine flu

New Zealand abandoned its battle to contain the swine flu virus Friday as officials said widespread transmission of the infection meant there were likely more than 1,000 cases nationwide.

New government regulations mean parents who defy rules that require children exposed to swine flu to stay home from school for up to seven days could face fines of up to 500 new Zealand dollars ($320).

Numerous travelers have been quarantined over swine flu concerns in China, including other school groups from California and Maryland.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/06/19/new-zealand-abandons-attempts-contain-swine-flu.html

Pandemic Usurps Seasonal Flu as Doctors Swab Noses

Virus samples swabbed from noses and throats of flu sufferers across the Asia-Pacific streaming into Anne Kelso’s Melbourne laboratory may hold clues about how virulent swine flu will be when it resurfaces in Europe and North America this year.

Dozens of germ-laden vials arrive daily at a four-story brick building in inner Melbourne via courier from as far away as the Pacific island of Palau and the Philippines. Inside, Kelso and colleagues are analyzing the microbes to determine whether they are mutating into a strain resistant to drugs like Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu.

“All eyes are on Australia, Chile and the other countries where there’s been a big rise in cases and as our flu season starts to show its face,” Kelso, the center’s director, said in an interview last week. “We expect the season will be getting going now because of the time of the year and particularly the fact that it’s a lot colder in Melbourne.”

Germ War

Tens of thousands of Melbournians are estimated to have caught the new bug, known as A/H1N1, in the past two months, according to Lindsay Grayson, director of infectious diseases at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital, which has diagnosed hundreds of people with the virus.

Unlike seasonal flu, from which the elderly suffer the most death and disease, the new bug is targeting the young and causing potentially fatal complications in otherwise healthy people aged 30 to 50, pregnant women and those with asthma, diabetes and obesity, according to the WHO.

The virus has since taken hold in Argentina, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=apOlayB70Zyg

Swine flu panic sees tourists avoid NZ

New Zealand is seeing an influx in Australian visitors to the country, but is being shunned by the US, UK, Korea and Japan due to wide spread fears of swine flu.

Prime Minister John Key, who is also the Tourism Minister, says New Zealand is seeing only half as many Japanese and Korean tourists visiting the country.

He says visitors need to understand New Zealand is not unique in its swine flu exposure with nearly 100 countries now reporting cases of swine flu.

http://www.3news.co.nz/News/PoliticsNews/Swine-flu-panic-sees-tourists-avoid-NZ/tabid/419/articleID/109615/cat/67/Default.aspx

Key suggests swine flu impacting tourism

The tourism industry is being hurt by swine flu as travellers in some countries put holidays on hold, Prime Minister John Key said on Monday.

"There is no getting away from the fact that swine flu risks damaging our tourism industry in the short term."

New Zealand was just one of more than 90 countries that had cases of the disease, so it was not in a unique position.

http://tvnz.co.nz/travel-news/key-suggests-swine-flu-impacting-tourism-2793536

New Zealand tourist companies say swine flu will curb demand

New Zealand tourism companies expect demand to weaken as a global recession and the swine flu outbreak curb international travel, according to a survey.
http://www.rep-am.com/News/421348.txt

New Zealand Expects Fast Rise in H1N1 Flu Cases

New Zealand expects a big increase in H1N1 flu cases in the coming months, as infections from the virus continue to rise across the Asia-Pacific region.

Health authorities say 213 of its 258 cases have been recorded in the past seven days. Public Health Director Dr. Mark Jacobs said Sunday most cases have been mild to moderate, but the country is likely to see a big increase in cases in the coming months. It has an additional 728 suspected cases, he said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124561706314035211.html