Melbourne; world's swine flu capital

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1023831 [headline] => Melbourne; world's swine flu capital [abstract] => Australia's second city of Melbourne has become the "swine flu capital of the world", a report said, as the country's confirmed tally of the disease soared to 1,009. [keywords] => swine, flu, Australia, pandemic, vaccine, spread, party, Melbourne [content] =>

Australia's second city of Melbourne has become the "swine flu capital of the world", a report said, as the country's confirmed tally of the disease soared to 1,009.

Some 874 of the infections have been detected in the southern state of Victoria, with most of those cases concentrated in the north and west of the state capital Melbourne, the health department said Saturday.

The disease has spread more than 1,000-fold in the past three weeks, hitting schools in the Melbourne area hard and making Victoria the worst affected area on earth per head of population, The Australian newspaper said.

"Melbourne is now the swine-flu capital of the world, with the H1N1 virus twice as prevalent in the Victorian population as it is in Mexico, where the pandemic began," the respected daily reported.

"With the state's comparatively small population, swine flu occurs in about one in 9,139 Victorians -- more than double the one in 21,860 Mexicans with the virus and triple the one in 27,295 people with swine flu in the US," it added.

Flu cases expected to rise steadily

Australian swine flu cases now represent about 4.5 percent of the 21,940 confirmed cases in 69 countries reported to the World Health Organisation.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said late Friday that swine flu would remain on the rise here for some time.

"I would have thought we are not at the halfway point, given that we still don't have an extensive spread in Australia," she told reporters.

She said a vaccine was not yet available and all efforts were being directed at containing the disease.

"The reason it is a marathon is we will potentially have this disease with us not just through this flu season but a risk of it again in the following year," she said.

The UN health agency said Friday it was maintaining the pandemic alert level at five out of six, signalling that a pandemic is "imminent".

Several Australian states and territories this week implemented voluntary quarantine measures for children returning from Victoria or the greater Melbourne area to prevent the spread of the disease.
 

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An Australian flu expert says the swine flu isn't behaving like a deadly pandemic.

As cases climb to almost 900 since Australia saw its first community-level transmission two weeks ago Professor Robert Booy also says it's vital the nation doesn't drop its guard.

‘Relatively mild illness’

He says for the great majority of people it'll be a relatively mild illness but because it's a novel infection more people than normal will get influenza this winter.

While Australians with the virus are yet to suffer any serious complications Professor Booy says a heightened level of public concern is justified as a matched vaccine is still weeks away.

Professor Booy is Head of Clinical Research at the National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance based at the University of Sydney.

Precautions still in place

Five new swine flu cases have been confirmed in Queensland, lifting the state's total to 37.

Queensland Health says three are from Brisbane.

They are a 45-year-old woman from the inner northern suburbs, a 28-year-old woman from the outer northern suburbs who had returned from Canada, and a 30-year-old man from the outer northern suburbs who had returned from the United States.

The other two are women from the Gold Coast - one is 21 and the other is 35.

Queensland Health says no other details are available.

Swine flu closed another Queensland school on Friday afternoon.

The Education Department closed Brisbane's Ferny Hills State School on advice from Queensland Health.

An Education Department spokesperson said the closure was a precaution, as a student displaying flu-like symptoms was the sibling of a person with swine flu.

The school will reopen on June 11.

Military parade cancelled

Swine flu has forced the cancellation of the Royal Military College's annual Queen's Birthday parade.

The defence department on Friday said one cadet at the Canberra college, which trains officers for the army, had tested positive for swine flu.

A number of other cadets due to march in the parade, and who could have come into contact with the sick cadet, have been quarantined as a precaution.

The quarantine of the cadets means there are not enough available to hold a successful parade.

It's only the second cancellation in the event's 55-year history.

Defence said the cancellation was regrettable but could not be avoided.

 

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