Pandemic plan at next level

The country's pandemic plan has been taken to the next level as the number of people infected with swine flu reached 55 by noon yesterday.

Efforts are now focused on reducing the impact of the illness on patients instead of trying to contain its spread, Mario Galea, Community Care Parliamentary Secretary, announced yesterday.

Since the first case was reported just over a week ago, the health authorities have been in containment stage, trying to stop the virus from spreading by tracing it through testing and placing those afflicted in isolation.

Despite these efforts, however, the H1N1 virus has passed into the community and is now no longer associated with travel, as in the first batch of cases.

The authorities have, therefore, gone into the second stage of the pandemic plan - mitigation.

Mr Galea said that in line with World Health Organisation guidelines, only patients in vulnerable groups and showing symptoms would be swabbed and administered antivirals. The most vulnerable were children under five, pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses such as heart, respiratory and kidney problems.

Others who experienced the symptoms should still lock themselves inside but the majority of healthy adults would recover without the need of the antiviral Tamiflu.

Mr Galea quoted WHO as saying that this virus had spread faster than any other virus.

He said that on Tuesday evening, another nine patients were confirmed to be suffering from the pandemic flu. Eight of these were in Gozo and one in Malta.

Those in Gozo were five males aged 15, 17, 19, 22 and 46, all from Għarb, a 14-year-old boy from San Lawrenz, a 17-year-old boy from Victoria and a 47-year-old Australian woman who lives in Marsalforn. The Malta case is a 19-year-old man from Rabat.

By noon yesterday, the authorities had confirmed another seven cases: a 34-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman from Għajnsielem, an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman from Għarb, a 44-year-old man from San Lawrenz, a four year-old boy from Victoria and a 17-year-old woman from Sannat.

Mr Galea said people who felt unwell should stay at home and not go to work.

Asked about the government's stock of Tamiflu, Mr Galea said there was enough for 25 per cent of the population and, in September, it would have enough for 35 per cent.

There were also private stocks of antivirals, estimated at between 10 and 12 per cent.

He added that an order for Tamiflu powder had been placed to mix as syrup medicine for children.

Mr Galea said during the testing, pathologists had found another type of flu doing the rounds. This flu usually emerged in autumn.

Meanwhile, four of the people who were first diagnosed with swine flu have returned to work.