CAIRO: A 25-year-old woman from Qena became the 39th bird flu fatality in Egypt, the Ministry of Health reported on Saturday. The woman died on Dec. 29. A 27-year-old man in the Ismailia governorate has tested positive for bird flu. He is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Ismailia and is in stable condition, according to Ministry of Health Spokesperson Abdel Rahman Shahin. So far there have been 188 cases of bird flu since the disease first appeared in Egypt in 2006. Of the 188 bird flu cases, 39 have ended in death. On the other hand, 1,272 cases of swine flu — causing 56 deaths — have been reported in Egypt ever since the disease began re-emerging in October 2010, according to the Ministry of Health's latest press statement. The rate is expected to go down in the coming months. “Eighty percent of those who [have] passed away as a result of swine flu [also] had chronic diseases — [such as] asthma, liver and kidney diseases — [or were] pregnant,” said Deputy Minister of Health for Precautionary Measures Nasr El-Sayed. El-Sayed explained that swine flu was expected to emerge due to the winter season, and that the cases would decrease starting mid-January. He noted that the number of people afflicted with swine flu in 2010 was substantially lower than in 2009, when the number of swine flu cases reached 10,000. He added that, because the number of swine flu incidences is currently much lower than in previous years, no extra precautionary measures will be taken in schools — such as temporarily shutting down classes, or entire schools themselves — as was practiced in 2009 when the H1N1 virus outbreak began. “This year, children account for 13 percent of those who have swine flu and the elderly account for less than 2 percent,” El-Sayed stated. “However, the majority of [swine flu] cases are among young adults between the ages of 17 and 35.” Tamiflu, an antiviral drug that slows the spread of influenza, is available at all hospitals, emergency rooms, and pharmacies for LE 70 per bottle.
