The panic caused by swine flu is receding just as students are returning to school Schools and universities opened on 20 February after a two-week extension to the mid-year holiday, Reem Leila reports. The longer vacation had been imposed in an attempt to contain the spread of swine flu among students. There have been 16,000 confirmed cases in Egypt since the virus first appeared, resulting in 269 deaths, where the most recent case was for a 25-year-old female from Sixth October governorate; who died on 21 February. Of the confirmed cases, school pupils account for 5,589 and university students for 862. Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabali confirmed that precautionary measures already in place to control the spread of the virus will be continued. Health workers will regularly monitor students and levels of cleanliness in schools, with daily follow ups continuing until mid-March. "A fully equipped ambulance car will serve every three schools in case any student suffers from flu-like symptoms," said El-Gabali. The Health Minister also advised school administrators and teachers, along with parents, not to panic if a student "sneezes or coughs" since it will most likely be a result of seasonal, and not swine, flu. The highest number of swine flu cases was reported in the last week of December. The number of reported cases has been declining and will continue to do so until April, says Amr Qandil, deputy minister of health for preventive medicine. However, the ministry remains on alert for a possible resurgence of the virus in March. By the end of March, the ministry will stop announcing the number of cases infected with H1N1 virus. Just 21,043 students out of 17 million pupils have been inoculated against the virus. An additional two million are expected to receive the jab now that the vaccination campaign has restarted. "Taking the vaccine at school is optional and free of charge," says Qandil, who notes that "the validity of the vaccine stock will expire after a year and a half." The Health Ministry, says Qandil, will receive a weekly assessment on the status of the virus among school students from a specialised committee. Should one student be infected the class to which he or she belongs will be closed for a week. In the case of two or more infections involving students from different classes, the entire school will be closed. On 5 February the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a report stating that "in North Africa, pandemic influenza transmission remains active and geographically widespread but overall activity has been declining since peaking during late December 2009 and early January 2010". According to the report there was a substantial decline in the number of pandemic virus isolations in January 2010, though new cases were observed in Morocco and Egypt. The death toll from the swine flu pandemic, says the WHO, has risen to at least 14,711, up 569 from a week ago, and though the spread of the H1N1 virus peaked in most of the northern hemisphere in October and November, transmission has remained active in parts of North Africa, Eastern and Southeastern Europe and South and East Asia. "As of 24 January 2010, more than 209 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 14,711 deaths." According to the WHO bulletin, swine flu transmission in North Africa is still "active and geographically widespread", particularly in Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Egypt, though the virus appeared to have peaked in December or January. Several European countries, including Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Russia have reported "slight increases" in cases of flu and respiratory illnesses. The worst affected region has been the Americas, with at least 7,166 deaths from H1N1 virus, while Europe has recorded 3,429 fatalities. At least 2,981 people have died from the virus in the East Asia and West Pacific region.
