The wonderful Peter Yang
Swine flu fears hit regional Australia
June 23rd 2009 04:45
(This article is copied from www.abc.net.au Really Long Link )
By Lindy Kerin for PM
Health experts are concerned about the potential spread of swine flu in remote communities.
A 26-year-old man from the remote Western Australian community of Kiwirrkurra became the first Australian to die of swine flu last Friday.
A team of doctors and officials from the WA Health Department will fly to Kiwirrkurra on Tuesday to deliver anti-viral drugs and try to find out how the man contracted the virus.
It is still unclear how the 26-year-old caught the swine flu virus but it is understood he could have been infected by a visitor from the Northern Territory.
Among those to visit the community tomorrow will be Dr Charles Douglas, who says there is widespread concern about swine flu.
Dr Douglas says the team will do its best to trace the man's movements and find out how he caught the virus.
"There has been some confirmed H1N1 swine flu in neighbouring communities in the Northern Territory so the way that he got it isn't clear," he said.
"Bear in mind that he had a number of significant other risk factors, which is important, and that's one of the messages we'll be getting across to the rest of the community.
At this stage, there is no evidence of an outbreak at the Kiwirrkurra community. But if any more cases are found, Tamiflu will be provided.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) president, Dr Andrew Pesce, says that may be too late.
"The response now has to be focused on potentially new outbreaks," he said.
"The individual who unfortunately died last week would have been in that community last week.
"Therefore it's too late to base any response on that individual case because you need to get in there within the first three days of exposure."
Dr Pesce says that the spread of swine flu in remote communities has been responded to appropriately.
"There has been consultation by the Government's task force with Indigenous health groups," he said.
"I'm sure you can always do more, but I believe that the intention has been to respond appropriately. I think that the focus should be on making sure that it's rolled out as well as possible."
He says the high level of chronic diseases in remote communities makes Indigenous people more vulnerable to swine flu.
There are now 151 confirmed cases of swine flu in Western Australia and another 60 cases across the border in the Northern Territory.
Neither the NT or WA health departments were able to provide PM with details of how many of those cases were in remote communities.
But fears of widespread outbreaks in Aboriginal communities are growing.
Late week Aboriginal health services across the Northern Territory held emergency talks about swine flu.
There have been several confirmed cases in central Australian communities as well as two cases on the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin.
Dr Pesce says strict guidelines must be followed, but he warns it is inevitable there will be more deaths.
By Lindy Kerin for PM
Health experts are concerned about the potential spread of swine flu in remote communities.
A 26-year-old man from the remote Western Australian community of Kiwirrkurra became the first Australian to die of swine flu last Friday.
A team of doctors and officials from the WA Health Department will fly to Kiwirrkurra on Tuesday to deliver anti-viral drugs and try to find out how the man contracted the virus.
It is still unclear how the 26-year-old caught the swine flu virus but it is understood he could have been infected by a visitor from the Northern Territory.
Among those to visit the community tomorrow will be Dr Charles Douglas, who says there is widespread concern about swine flu.
Dr Douglas says the team will do its best to trace the man's movements and find out how he caught the virus.
"There has been some confirmed H1N1 swine flu in neighbouring communities in the Northern Territory so the way that he got it isn't clear," he said.
"Bear in mind that he had a number of significant other risk factors, which is important, and that's one of the messages we'll be getting across to the rest of the community.
At this stage, there is no evidence of an outbreak at the Kiwirrkurra community. But if any more cases are found, Tamiflu will be provided.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) president, Dr Andrew Pesce, says that may be too late.
"The response now has to be focused on potentially new outbreaks," he said.
"The individual who unfortunately died last week would have been in that community last week.
"Therefore it's too late to base any response on that individual case because you need to get in there within the first three days of exposure."
Dr Pesce says that the spread of swine flu in remote communities has been responded to appropriately.
"There has been consultation by the Government's task force with Indigenous health groups," he said.
"I'm sure you can always do more, but I believe that the intention has been to respond appropriately. I think that the focus should be on making sure that it's rolled out as well as possible."
He says the high level of chronic diseases in remote communities makes Indigenous people more vulnerable to swine flu.
There are now 151 confirmed cases of swine flu in Western Australia and another 60 cases across the border in the Northern Territory.
Neither the NT or WA health departments were able to provide PM with details of how many of those cases were in remote communities.
But fears of widespread outbreaks in Aboriginal communities are growing.
Late week Aboriginal health services across the Northern Territory held emergency talks about swine flu.
There have been several confirmed cases in central Australian communities as well as two cases on the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin.
Dr Pesce says strict guidelines must be followed, but he warns it is inevitable there will be more deaths.
| 21 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
