Australia to exceed 10,000 confirmed cases of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus

15 July 2009

Today Australia will exceed 10,000 confirmed cases of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus, and this is despite a policy where only persons at high-risk are being tested. Most cases, like people who are otherwise healthy, and those with mild symptoms, are not tested at all.

It is expected that many more will be diagnosed as the winter season progresses. The Commonwealth's chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, warned yesterday that the spread of the disease would start to peak next month, increasing the pressure on hospitals. He said hospitals would be under rising pressure "in the next six weeks".

The total number of Australian deaths associated with Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 is currently 19, with eleven reported in Victoria, four in New South Wales, one in Western Australia, one in South Australia, one in the Northern Territory and one in Tasmania.

There are currently 123 people in hospital around Australia with Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 and 32 of these are in Intensive Care Units. There are 38 patients in hospital in NSW, 29 in Victoria, 18 in Queensland, 15 in the Northern Territory, 15 in South Australia, 4 in Tasmania, 2 in the ACT and 2 in Western Australia. ICU admissions: Of the 32 people currently in Intensive Care Units, 16 are in Victoria, 6 in NSW, 5 in Queensland, 3 in the NT, 1 in South Australia and 1 in Western Australia.

The total number of hospitalisations in Australia since Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 was identified is 1029.  Professor Bishop said that many of these were short stays and numbers were similar to what had been experienced in previous bad flu years such as 2007. The number of flu cases being seen by general practitioners in the community was similar to 2007. But numbers going to hospital emergency departments were "a little higher" than previously, apparently because of higher public awareness.

Australia is expecting to get the first of 21 million doses of swine flu vaccine by October, when the worst of the epidemic is expected to have passed, although overseas cases had continued into summer.

(It should be noted that the WHO officially changed the name of this new infection to “Pandemic (H1N1) 2009”. )

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