Pregnancy, HIV add to flu risk

RESEARCH published last week has shown that pregnant women and HIV-infected people are more prone to contracting the H1N1 flu virus, commonly known as ‘swine flu’.

The research, published in the medical journal The Lancet, says that ‘people whose immune systems are suppressed by diseases such as HIV-AIDS are more likely to develop complications from influenza and should be vaccinated.’According to the Science and Development Network, the authors of this research said that ‘antiretroviral therapy decreases hospital admissions and deaths from influenza but acknowledge that only around ten per cent of people who need them receive antiretroviral drugs in the developing world.’The Network also reports that ‘while HIV patients may respond less effectively to an influenza vaccine, they can be safely vaccinated’ and that this information should inform vaccine policy.’Better trial data would inform vaccination recommendations on the basis of efficacy and cost in these at-risk populations,’ the report review noted.The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Friday that evidence from previous pandemics has also shown that pregnant women are at ‘heightened risk’.In addition to the increased risk in pregnant women, particularly in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, the WHO has also noted ‘an increased risk of foetal death or spontaneous abortions in infected women’.In its latest flu update, the WHO further recommended that, when pandemic vaccines become available, health authorities should consider making pregnant women a priority group for immunisation.According to the WHO, other groups at increased risk of severe or fatal illness include people with underlying medical conditions, most notably chronic lung disease (including asthma), cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and immunosuppression. Some preliminary studies suggest that obesity, and especially extreme obesity, may be a risk factor for more severe disease.SITUATION UPDATE Meanwhile, Namibia’s National Health Emergency Management Committee (NHEMC) is still awaiting a number of test results from South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).Chairperson of the Committee, Dr Jack Vries, yesterday told The Namibian that six tests had returned negative over the weekend, and that tests for 27 more suspected cases are being awaited.He said details of some of these results would be shared during the course of the week.Namibia currently has four confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus.Media in South Africa on Friday reported that the number of confirmed flu cases in that country now stands at 480 cases.The NICD’s deputy director, Lucille Blumberg, was quoted as saying that the cases mainly involved youngsters, but that ‘we are not seeing severe illness’.She said nobody is known to have died from the virus in South Africa yet.Worldwide, confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus stand at over 134 000, although this figure could be much higher, as tests are no longer being conducted for every suspected case. Over 816 people have died of the H1N1 flu.