CAIRO: The Ministry of Health announced that the number of swine flu cases in Egypt is substantially declining with only 44 reported cases this week. The ministry said that an average of four to seven cases is reported on a daily basis, adding that the total number of cases now reached 16,092. These include 5,592 cases among school students and 862 university students. Around the country, the rate of swine flu cases reported has been declining and will continue to do so until April, Abdel Rahman Shahin, official spokesperson of the Ministry of Health said, adding that they are expecting a new wave of the virus in March. The highest number of swine flu cases was reported in the last week of December when approximately 2,650 cases were reported. The most recent death from the virus came Sunday when a 25-year-old woman from Sixth of October governorate passed away raising the death toll from the virus up to 269, announced Shahin. It was the first swine-flu related death in six days. More than 98 percent of patients have been treated from the H1N1 virus. There are currently only 16 patients receiving treatment at hospitals. Seventy-nine percent of swine-flu related deaths were patients of chronic illnesses and pregnant women. In a related note, the Ministry of Education has announced that during the second semester of the academic year, which started this week, classes with reported swine flu cases will be shut down for only one week instead of two weeks like the first semester. In its situation update released on Friday Feb. 19, the World Health Organization described the situation in the region saying, "In North Africa, pandemic influenza transmission persists but substantial declines in activity continue to be reported over the past month. The report did not specifically mention the situation in Egypt as it did in the past several reports.
