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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-02 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

SWINE FLU

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:13): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: H1N1 influenza has now emerged in Australia, after being detected across the Americas and much of Europe and Asia over the past two months. H1N1, or swine flu, as it is known, is a new type of human influenza virus which causes respiratory disease and was first detected in April this year in Mexico and the USA. This virus is spread from person to person in the same way that seasonal flu is passed on, through airborne droplets produced by an infected person coughing or sneezing.

In late April, the pandemic alert level was raised by the World Health Organisation from phase 4 to phase 5, as cases began to emerge across the globe. According to the World Health Organisation's latest report, there have been 17,410 cases of swine flu recorded across 62 countries, including 115 deaths.

Australia's first case of swine flu was reported on 9 May, in Queensland in a person who had travelled from the United States and, fortunately, that person is now fully recovered. Here in South Australia our state's first case was reported on 21 May. A 15 year old girl from Eynesbury College tested positive for swine flu. Her 40 year old mother and her 12 year old brother, who attends Blackfriars Priory, also contracted the virus.

Both Eynesbury College and Blackfriars were closed for seven days to contain any potential spread of the flu. Both schools have now reopened. So far, that action seems to have been successful, with no new cases emerging from either school. Meanwhile, another four South Australians have also tested positive to swine flu, bringing the total number of cases in our state to seven.

Those four people were all passengers on board the Pacific Dawn cruise ship which docked in Sydney on 25 May. A number of cases have emerged across the nation from that voyage. Four other South Australians are currently being tested for swine flu. These people are quarantined at home pending those results. Nationwide, there have been 407 confirmed cases of swine flu. I want to stress that there have been no deaths recorded from swine flu in Australia at this stage.

The commonwealth government's pandemic alert was raised from 'delay' to 'contain' on 22 May 2009, an acknowledgement that swine flu had arrived in Australia. The aim of this phase has been to contain the spread of the virus within Australia through strong measures, including the closing of affected schools for a seven-day period where a case has been detected.

In this state, we have also requested that schools, preschools and childcare centres ask that children returning from overseas locations where swine flu is widespread in the community to stay at home for seven days. Most importantly, the quarantine process is helping us to stop the spread of swine flu to the most vulnerable in our community while there is no vaccine for this virus.

So far, the virus seems to be mild and no worse in virulence to a normal seasonal flu. None of the South Australians with the virus have been hospitalised and all are recovering well. That said, as with normal seasonal flu, there will be mortality associated with this illness, and we need to take sensible precautions to limit the spread and ensure that treatment is available, particularly for those with risk factors, such as those with respiratory disease.

Federal health authorities, with their state counterparts, including SA Health, are constantly reviewing the appropriate phase of action in light of the number of cases across the nation. Under the Pandemic Action Plan, Victoria is currently considering moving to a 'sustain' phase, which would involve a greater focus on treatment of the disease and prevention in regard to vulnerable groups. This would be an understandable decision given the prevalence of the virus now in Victoria. I understand that there are over 300 cases in that state.

The 'sustain' phase would focus on contact tracing and testing on a household rather than on a community contacts basis. It would therefore deliver more resources for the treatment and prevention of the disease, particularly amongst the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, children and those with chronic disease. The approach to school and workplace closures would also change, but it would still be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If the rate of new cases continues, it is likely that Australia will move to this stage over the coming days or weeks. Of course, the production of a vaccine will be a key step in reducing the threat of this potential pandemic. The commonwealth has already placed an order with CSL for the first batch of human swine flu vaccination which the company has suggested could be ready within months.

In South Australia, this government is working with federal authorities and other states to ensure that our community is protected as much as possible, particularly people with chronic disease, the elderly and the very young. The state government has put more resources into our Communicable Disease Control Branch, with extra staff to assist our existing team. A dedicated hotline for GPs has been set up by SA Health to provide GPs who are on the front line of this spread of virus to have access to the latest information and advice. In addition to this hotline, regular bulletins are being sent to GP clinics with the latest updates. GP representatives have also been regularly briefed by SA Health officials.

The state government is also planning for dedicated flu clinics to ease the load on our emergency departments and GPs. These would be initially at the Royal Adelaide, Flinders, the Lyell McEwin and the Women's and Children's, but at other sites if necessary. In country South Australia, Berri, Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Port Augusta are designated flu hospitals and are ready to respond as needed. These flu hospitals will have dedicated high dependency beds set aside for ill patients in the event of a serious flu pandemic and, of course, hospital beds across all country hospitals will be used as required by country patients.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hard-working people within the SA Health system, particularly the managers of communicable diseases within the department, South Australian GPs and our public hospital doctors and nurses for all their efforts over the past fortnight. I also want to thank the principals, staff, students and parents of Eynesbury College and Blackfriars Priory for their fast response, patience and tolerance during their period of quarantine. The two schools acted quickly in the best interests of their students and were very cooperative with officials during this difficult period.

Finally, I want to remind the community that the commonwealth has a national hotline for swine flu which can be contacted on 180 2007. Please remember that the best thing we can do this winter—and all members should pass this on to their electorate where they can—to protect our families, friends, workmates and ourselves is to wash, wipe and cover so that we do not infect another.

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