By Jason Gale | Bloomberg News
New Zealand is suffering the worst influenza season in more than a decade, spurred by a surge in cases of swine flu, which is supplanting the winter strains, according to a report by the country's health department.
Doctors reported 183.7 cases of flu-like illness per 100,000 people across the country in the week ended July 5, the Institute of Environmental Science and Research and National Influenza Centre said in a report Thursday. The rate is about double last year's peak.
Cases of flu have climbed as the H1N1 pandemic virus spread across New Zealand. Tests on viruses collected by doctors in the country's flu surveillance network last week showed 80 percent were the new strain, compared with 48 percent the previous week. The usual seasonal strains now account for about 20 percent of flu viruses tested, the report said.
"Flu activity has reached the point of being the highest in 12 years," said Sue Huang, director of the National Influenza Centre, in a telephone interview Thursday. "It keeps going up, and the season hasn't really peaked yet."
Fran McGrath, New Zealand's deputy-director of public health, announced the country's fifth fatality from the pandemic virus Wednesday.
"For most people who get influenza this winter, it will be a mild to moderate illness and they will recover at home without needing medical treatment," McGrath said in a statement on the health ministry's Web site. "People who are at higher risk of more serious illness from influenza are those who have other significant health conditions."
hat-tip Chuck
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