-
Source: ONE News -
Related
Health officials are warning that H1N1 flu could potentially infect half of New Zealand's population if a pandemic takes hold.
Young people seem to be most vulnerable, with the latest alert involving a class at Gisborne Boys High School after a 13-year-old just back from Australia was diagnosed with H1N1, or swine flu.
The number of suspected H1N1 cases among the Gisborne students who were isolated on Tuesday has risen to 12.
Three new suspected cases have also been reported from people in the local community who have travelled from an affected area and have become unwell, taking the total in isolation in the Tairawhiti district to 23.
The district's Medical Officer of Health Dr Geoff Cramp says it was originally thought only five from the group of 16 Gisborne Boys High students - two teachers and one parent - were suffering mild flu like symptoms.
However, when the Public Health team visited on Tuesday seven more were showing signs of having a mild viral illness.
Cramp says it is believed there has still been no transfer of
the H1N1 virus within a community in New Zealand and isolation is a
method to stop this from happening.
The Ministry of Health says it's keeping a close eye on
Australia which now has over 1200 confirmed cases as the flu
spreads rapidly there.
Health authorities are not issuing a travel warning for Australia yet but are urging visitors to take precautions.
In other developments, a dozen New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) staff have been quarantined after a colleague contracted the H1N1 flu.
The employee with the flu worked on level 13 of a central Wellington office building, and was sent home on Friday.
When the diagnosis was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon NZQA quarantined a dozen people from level 13. Other tenants were warned and the building landlords are expected to co-ordinate a response.
The number of confirmed New Zealand cases of H1N1 flu rose to 19 on Tuesday, with two new confirmed cases being reported by Wellington's Regional Public Health overnight.
While numbers of those infected are relatively small, the flu strain is new and people have never been exposed to it, so it is expected to spread quickly.
In its present form, it is unlikely to result in a higher death toll than seasonal flu.
The number of probable cases was 11 on Tuesday, up from 10 on Monday, and there were 161 people in isolation or quarantine and being treated with Tamiflu, up from 92 on Monday.
There is no way of knowing with any certainty the exact number of people who could be infected if a pandemic established in New Zealand, director of public health Dr Mark Jacobs said.
However, the more confirmed cases New Zealand has, the higher the chance that more serious illness and deaths will occur, he said.
While New Zealand appears to have succeeded in keeping H1N1 flu at bay, Jacobs said, as time goes on the virus will become harder and harder to manage.
Employers should pay
Meanwhile, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) says employers should be prepared to take responsibility for the costs of workplace exposure to H1N1 flu after a predicted increase in cases.
EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says quarantine comes with significant costs to workers and those costs should be met by their employers if the exposure was work-related.
"There can be a significant cost to a worker when they are quarantined, ranging from loss of allowances to not being able to work their second job and we believe that cost should be paid by the employer if the quarantine is the result of workplace exposure," Little said.
"We are currently following up on four cases in which EPMU members have been quarantined following workplace exposure and are not being properly compensated for the losses they are incurring as a result."
