Swine flu will breach Australia’s border

A top Queensland health official has warned swine flu will breach Australian borders, though two local women thought to have been infected have been given the all clear, leaving the state free of swine flu.

A 30-year-old Brisbane woman who returned from Mexico and a 50-year-old Gold Coast woman back from the United States were thought to have the disease.

Nose and throat swabs tested at a Brisbane laboratory and Melbourne’s World Health Organisation (WHO) lab both confirmed they didn’t have the virus.

All tests are being conducted at the two labs simultaneously, with WHO having the final say on the result.

The tests take about 12 hours to process and Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young says these two cases have proven the system works.

However, she says Queensland Health is struggling to learn more about the virus, as it is a new combination of swine, avian and human threads.

Dr Young is closely monitoring the situation and says there are no significant risks for the state.

“Essentially we’re keeping a very, very close watching brief on what’s going on overseas to work out what we need to do here,” Young said.

Emergency departments, paramedics, doctors and labs are all on alert for an eventual case and are “prepared for anything”.

“I think we probably will eventually get a case in Australia,” she said.

Queensland has a large stockpile of the anti-viral tablet Tamiflu, which can help reduce the severity of the illness.

“We’ve got well over 20,000 courses here in Queensland and the national stockpile has millions,” Young said.
A GP can prescribe the drug, which is available from pharmacies and hospitals, but it’s only effective in the first 24 to 48 hours of presenting the virus.

World Health Organisation expert advisor on influenza Alan Hampson OAM says Tamiflu contains virus which is distantly related to the virus that is circulated in Mexico and the Americas.

“It’s not likely to give very significant protection against this new virus, so it’s a matter of making a new vaccine if the virus does continue to pose a threat of international spread,” Hampson said.

“But on the other hand, people being vaccinated with a virus even distantly related to this new virus may have some benefit.

“It may help to prime the immune system so they may respond better in the event they do become infected,” he said.

If Queenslanders have recently returned from Mexico or the United States, and fallen ill within seven days with flu-like symptoms of fever, cough, fatigue or the more serious symptom of pneumonia, they’re urged to contact a doctor, hospital or call 13HEALTH.

Swine flu has already killed more than 103 people in Mexico, infected more than 20 in the US and has spread to the UK, France and New Zealand.

Read more of Alan Hampson’s comments on swine flu here

Video: Swine Flu Scare for Queenslanders

Interview: Leading Influenza Expert Offers Advice on Swine Flu Outbreak

Alan Hampson OAM, is a World Health Organisation expert Advisor on influenza, and was until recently, Deputy Director and operational head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza. He is also an influenza advisor to the Australian Government, a Member of the Australian National Influenza Pandemic Action Committee and Convenor of the Australian Influenza Specialist Group.

How is Australia preparing for Swine Influenza?
The Australian government has been doing a great deal for quite some time to deal with influenza, especially since the avian flu outbreak in 1997.

The Swine Influenza has up until recently only been spreading between swines. But it has now gone on to person-to-person transmission which is the big worry about this influenza. I would suggest it shouldn’t be called Swine Influenza anymore because it now has person-to-person transmission potential (Avian flu still maintains this name because there’s no evidence of person-to-person transmission yet).

The details of the virus so far are still sketchy.

The disease control in the US has gone to Mexico to help them evaluate the situation and I know there is some evidence that the virus is present in other places particularly in the USA and the concern is it might spread more widely.

Why are we so worried about influenza outbreaks?

We are always worried about new strains of influenza which are significantly different from those that have been in the population previously because they have the potential to spread far more rapidly than the older strains that have been in the population for some time.

If they happen to cause severe disease of course it will have an impact not only on individuals but the country as a whole, especially on the health system. That’s why you plan for the eventuality (of influenza) because of the prospect the H5 virus might turn into a virus that can spread from person-to-person.

Do you think the general public should be worried?

It’s not really a good idea for individual to stockpile things like masks and anti-flu drugs. The government has a stockpile which will be used judiciously in the event of any event of major outbreak of influenza in Australia and I think that is the most appropriate way to go.

That anti-viral stockpile would be used as an interim measure so we have vaccines available to protect people. The current vaccine contains a virus which is distantly related to the virus that is circulated in Mexico and the Americas. It’s not likely to give very significant protection against this new virus, so it’s a matter of making a new vaccine if the virus does continue to pose a threat of international spread. But on the other hand people being vaccinated with a virus even distantly related to this new virus may have some benefit – it may help to prime the immune system so they may respond better in the event they do become infected.