Yup, definitely swine flu...

Media release from the Wairarapa District Health Board confirming their swine flu outbreak.

The outbreak of illness at five Wairarapa Schools is likely to be H1N1 influenza, after some swabs taken from children’s throats earlier this week have returned positive.

Medical Officer of Health, Dr Annette Nesdale said, “H1N1 is the predominant strain of flu in New Zealand this winter, so this result is not a surprise. These are the first confirmed cases in the Wairarapa this winter but it’s highly likely that other influenza-type illnesses are also this strain.” Dr Nesdale also said that now the prevalent strain has been confirmed, in most instances swabbing was no longer required, except in the hospital setting if patients had developed complications.

The outbreak was first notified to Public Health last Friday, and the team quickly swung into action. Information on influenza has been sent to all schools across the district to send home to parents. Parents are being advised to keep children home until they have been symptom free for 48 hours. The illness does not always present with coughs and sneezes, some children are experiencing stomach upsets with nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting. Information is now being sent to aged residential care facilities, though older people appear slightly less at risk than usual because the current strain is similar to the outbreak in 1957.

“Vaccination still provides the best protection and is very important for people who have other medical conditions,” said Dr Nesdale. “Immunity is not established for 10-14 days, though, so it’s possible to still get the flu during that time.” She advised people to contact their GP to inquire about vaccination to protect against influenza if they had not already been vaccinated.

Masterton Medical has reported more than 60 cases a day for the last three days of influenza-type illnesses. Influenza is highly infectious and easily passed to other people through coughing and sneezing. For this reason, people are being advised to phone Healthline for advice and avoid doctor’s waiting rooms where possible.

A media campaign is underway to help people understand how to look after themselves and others, and when to seek medical help.

Important ways of stopping the spread of illness are staying home if unwell, covering coughs and regular hand washing.

“If you are concerned or are getting worse or if you have an underlying medical condition such asthma you should contact your medical centre, as antiviral medicines will help, but need to be started early,” said Practice Nurse Helen Kjestrup.

Pregnant woman are also at higher risk of complications from influenza.

If you need more information phone Healthline 0800 611 116 or go to the Ministry of Health website on moh.govt.nz/influenza

Swine flu hits schools hard

Swine flu seems to have erupted on to the scene again, with outbreaks in schools in both the North & South Islands. More than 300 pupils were absent from Wairarapa schools this week, with a highly infectious virus, presumed to be swine flu. There was a confirmed outbreak infecting at least 50 pupils from Seddon School, near Blenheim, last week.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3988142/Schools-swine-flu-clear-out

It'll be interesting to see how long it will be before we are getting similar outbreaks in Porirua schools.

I can't stress the importance of hygiene enough, and if your kids are sick, please keep them at home.

From the Ministry of Health

Know how to protect yourself and your family

For some people influenza can be a very serious illness. The basic measures to protect yourself and others remain the same, but are even more important as we see more flu circulating in the community. These include:

• get your seasonal influenza immunisation, which includes protection against swine flu
• know the symptoms of influenza, which can include a high fever, headache, cough, sore throat, tiredness and generally aching all over
• phone for medical advice quickly (GP or Healthline) if you have influenza-like symptoms, including consideration of whether you need antiviral medicine treatment. Antiviral medication may lessen the severity and length of your illness, but are best started within the first 48 hours. Antiviral treatment is currently available free of charge on prescription.
• seeking early medical advice is especially important for women who are pregnant, severely overweight people and those with underlying medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, heart and lung disease and other conditions including autoimmune diseases
• wash and dry hands frequently, cover coughs and sneezes and stay home if you are sick.

Phone early for advice

If you or your family are ill and you are concerned, or if your condition worsens, get health advice by calling your GP or Healthline on 0800 611 116.

Floods, fires, fuel, flus & flares

Plenty going on on the disaster front world-wide - floods in Pakistan killing over a thousand people, affecting a million more, wildfires in Greece & Russia, BP may finally start plugging the leaking Gulf oil well, and more locally, an outbreak of swine flu at Seddon School in the South Island had almost half of the school away sick last week, and finally a couple of solar flares are headed our way today, but thankfully they don't seem to be big enough to do much more than put on a stunning display of the Aurora Australis if you happen to live far enough south. Massive solar flares have the potential to knock out satellites & communications and power grids.

I presume you all survived Sunday's weather all right. I saw the weather warnings for the wind and rain, but wasn't anywhere near a computer to be able to post about them as I was on holiday - certainly made the ferry crossing interesting!

Don't click that link

Unfortunately this blog attracts a fair bit of spam in the comments - usually strings of random characters with a hyperlink that will probably take you to a website full of malware. If the comment doesn't seem to make any sense, and there's a link, don't click it. If you hover your mouse over the link without clicking it, it'll generally show that the link is probably to something pornographic, and virus laden.

Nice relaxing holiday... not.

A rather unfortunate norovirus outbreak at the Golden Bay Holiday Park, near Takaka, probably has many holidaymakers wishing they'd stayed at home (and wishing the toilets came with seatbelts and extra buckets for the inevitable catastrophic containment failure), with around 80 people affected. Nasty...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3252228/Family-flees-war-zone-as-illness-hits-camping-ground

Indonesian earthquake

While the Samoan quake and resulting tsunami held the headlines in New Zealand, an even bigger tragedy unfolded in Indonesia, with a quake of magnitude 7.6 that triggered massive landslides that have buried entire villages under mud and rubble. It's expected that the death toll will be over 3000.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/2929306/Indonesian-quake-toll-could-top-3000
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/2931055/Aid-push-to-quake-villages

Unfortunately, geologists say that the worst is yet to come for Sumatra - http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17907-devastating-indonesian-earthquake-still-to-come.html

The current problem facing both Sumatra and the areas affected by the Samoan quake is the health problems associated with having decomposing bodies in the area.