Swine flu declines in Samoa

Assistant Chief Executive Officer of National Health Services, Stanley Dean. Photo / Cherelle Jackson

APIA - The head of National Health Services in Samoa says the number of swine flu cases on the island nation has reduced.

Dr Stanley Dean told nzherald.co.nz today that he could not confirm the numbers but that a decline has been noted.

"We owe it to the closure of the schools, of course, as that is perhaps the most common way the swine flu virus is transmitted. This is because so many students come into contact with each other during school hours," Dean said.

The schools re-opened this week despite the continued threat of the spread of swine flu in Samoa.

"This is similar to the influenza, which spread in two weeks, but we are fortunate we managed to contain it early," Dean said.

Despite efforts at containing the spread of the virus, swine flu claimed its first victim in Samoa last week.

Samoalivenews reported that a 26 year-old pregnant woman became the first person in Samoa to die of the virus. The woman was pregnant and had a caesarian operation last week to save her baby.

In the same week the Ministry of Health announced that the number of confirmed cases in the country was at 100, a steady rise since the first case was detected two months ago.

The Ministry continues its stringent quarantine measures at the airport, and has set up clinics within the town area.

It is not uncommon now to see people in the town of Apia wearning masks to protect themselves from the virus.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed swine flu cases in New Zealand has increased to 3034, up from 3021 yesterday.

However, the Ministry of Health said the actual number would be much higher as only a small proportion of patients was being tested.

The number of deaths caused by the H1N1 virus in New Zealand remained at 14.

- additional reporting from NZPA