Swine flu scares Zimbos in SA

The H1N1 influenza started in Mexico and the United States of America in April this year. As it spread like veld fire, its usually name swine flue was dropped for frightening to death those who eat pork. Barely five months down the line the virus is now in more than 166 countries, claiming over 1400 lives while leaving a trail of above 170 000 infections, according to the World Health Organization statistics..
For South Africa it remained an overseas problem until in June when it claimed the life of a Cape Town university student. Six people have since succumbed to the pandemic. Close to 3500 cases have been confirmed. Private laboratories estimate the actual number of infections to be over 7000. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases has further revealed that of the 20 30 blood samples tested daily, 20% contains the dreaded virus. The same applies with private laboratories that have reported handling an average of 400 blood samples a day.
These figures have left thousands of Zimbabweans living in South Africa scared to death as the infection rate continues to plummet uncontrollable. Zimbabwean national Carnicious Nkala has been living in Johannesburg for the past three years. He is worried for his life and that of thousands of his fellow country-men who live in crowded and disease prone conditions across South Africa. We are very worried about a lot of Zimbabweans who live in overcrowded flats and places like the Johannesburg Central Methodist Church. Worse still most of them can not access health facilities because of their illegal status in the country. If we look at the alarming rate of the spread of the H1N1 influenza amongst the affluent South Africans, then as poor Zimbabwean immigrants we are sitting on a time bomb, Nkala said.
Nomalanga Dlamini also from Zimbabwe prays daily that H1N1 influenza never reaches her homeland. Her worst fears is that it wont be long before the virus spills to Zimbabwe possible through infected nationals working or trading in South Africa. She says the impact of that will be a tragedy for a country with a collapsed health system and just emerging out of the worst cholera crisis. With a lot of Zimbabweans traveling in and out of South Africa on different errands, the H1N1 flu virus may end up in Zimbabwe if by any chance the travelers are infected. My worst fear is that the health system in Zimbabwe is still fragile and can not cope if faced by yet another pandemic. We can not afford to lose more lives after the devastating effects of cholera, she said.
Zimbabwean students studying in local universities, colleges and schools have also not been spared from fear. 30 swine flu cases have been confirmed in Gauteng schools while 190 schools have reported suspected cases in Western Cape Province. This adds to the Stellenbosch University were a student became the first causality of the pandemic. As University students from Zimbabwe we are also now learning in fear. Its such a mixture of students from different countries and families and that makes us prone to infection. It wont be surprising to hear that one of us has infected the whole family as we visit most of the weekends, Said Precious Vundla studying at UNISA.
Meanwhile the government has called for calm saying there is no need for panic. Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the public should just be cautious of the various symptoms of the H1N1 influenza. These are divided into mild, moderate and severe. The mild symptoms include runny or blocked nose, fever, muscle pain and cough. The minister says for this you do not need a specialized medical care as nothing will happen to you. However those living with HIV, people with lung diseases and the pregnant women should see a doctor when they develop these symptoms.
The moderate symptoms are characterized by mild symptoms plus shortness of breath, chest pain, persistent vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration. Severe symptoms have a combination of mild and moderate symptoms plus respiratory distress, blue lips, severe drowsiness and loss of consciousness. If any one develops moderate or severe symptoms of the H1N1 influenza, we encourage them to seek immediate medical attention. Every health authority throughout the world will be concerned when there is a public health challenge that we are faced with. It is not known what the impact is going to be moving forward, but the basis of the concern also is related to the strain that the pandemic is placing on the countrys health systems, both public and private, National Health Department spokesperson Fidel Hadebe said.
With reports that the earliest swine flue vaccine will only be available in the country in November if not early next year, these Zimbabweans can only hope for an earlier solution to save them and their nation from being struck by yet another catastrophic health crisis.