CAIRO: The death toll from the H1N1 virus, commonly known as Swine flu, rose to 46 cases, as Egypt’s health ministry on Saturday confirmed the 46th death. Over the past two weeks, Egypt has witnessed the worst outbreak of the virus, as health experts believe the change in seasons has contributed to the rise in risk. 65-year-old Hussein Hassan died of the virus in the Aswan governorate in southern Egypt, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the man was taken to a local hospital after he was suffering from severe respiratory symptoms and placed in intensive care on a respirator. The death raised the number of the victims over the past three days to 8 new victims and 34 total cases during the last 20 days. The Egyptian Cabinet decided to hold a meeting this Wednesday to discuss the developments of the virus. In a related context, Dr. Saad Mahmoud Saad, the General Coordinator of the Supreme Committee to Combat swine flu at Benha University, announced the death of the first case to die at the university hospital, a 27-year-old woman, Wafaa Mohammed Anwar, a resident in Menofiyah last week. An official source from the Council of Ministers said that the virus has become a danger after the increasing numbers of deaths “because of the virus, although that this is expected because of winter, but at the same time the death rate is still less than the global rates.” He added: “The government is trying, through the Ministry of Health, to provide vaccinations to the largest number of citizens and there are batches of doses arriving after a contract to import about 2.5 million doses during the next few weeks has come through.” Since the virus first appeared in Egypt last June, the ministry has reported over 3,800 cases of the flu, but despite the growing number of deaths, the ministry remains optimistic of the country’s outlook with the virus. Amr Kandil, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Preventive Affairs, stressed that the virus has not mutated and said that the high rate of infection per day is not indicative of a mutation. However, Awad Mahgour, Director of Communicable Diseases at the World Health Organization stressed that the virus has already mutated in a number of countries, “but slowly and in a restricted context.†Meanwhile, the World Health Organization announced the results of their research, which ended last Friday evening, confirming that there is no clear evidence that the anti-viral drug Tamiflu prevents complications of diseases, such as the seasonal flu or pneumonia, among the infected. The WHO said in a statement that it is still recommending the use of Tamiflu in the treatment of those “separately infected with swine influenza, or who continue to have symptoms for three days, or if their health deteriorated.” The global health organization added that persons in good health, but infected with swine flu, do not need Tamiflu, since the vast majority of swine flu patients have recovered without any kind of medical care. On the other hand, the organization has emphasized that the death toll of the disease reached approximately 10,000 worldwide, including 6,131 from the Americas, 1,242 in Europe and 814 death cases have been recorded in the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa. Environmental experts revealed that Egypt is a fertile environment to attract all viruses, due to the severity of environmental pollution, warning that, in light of the severe pollution, it is expected to increase the number of deaths and infections of swine flu. Dr. Ahmed Abdel Wahab, Professor of environmental pollution at the University of Banha, said Egypt “is a fertile environment to attract all types of viruses due to the severity of environmental pollution.” He added that “environmental pollution is one of the causes that increase the incidence of influenza, both swine or avian, or even normal influenza,” attributing this to the lack of safe handling of waste in the country. He pointed to municipal waste and garbage and the remnants of food surrounding schools, homes and even hospitals, as well as its accumulation in the various fields and streets as a major concern. Abdel Wahab added that the density of industrial emissions and burning garbage and agricultural waste, which dominates Cairo and other governorates, “contributes to the infection of many citizens, especially those with respiratory diseases, as well as 5,000 deaths because of the black cloud and emissions lead to a reduction of the immunity among large numbers of citizens, which makes citizens a strong prey to any virus.” Muhammad Naji, the director of the Habi Center for Environmental Rights, warned that “the severe pollution that afflicts Egypt will lead to a rise in the number of deaths and infections from flu in the coming weeks, especially in the slums areas.” BM
