Tally of influenza cases goes up

The number of confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus in Switzerland has reached 75.

Three new cases were announced in the cantons of Neuchâtel, St Gallen and Zug on Friday, following six other cases confirmed by the Federal Health Office on Thursday.

A Chilean woman aged 36 picked up the virus while visiting Neuchâtel and an 18-year-old school leaver from St Gallen was infected during a trip to Spain.

In Zug a young woman became infected while holidaying in California. She is the first case reported in the canton.

At the moment there are another 20 suspected cases of the virus, commonly known as swine flu.

The Federal Health Office said on Thursday that the increase in confirmed cases around the globe meant there was a growing risk of infection in Switzerland. Anyone travelling to high-risk areas – the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Britain and Spain - should take extra precaution against infection.

The authorities added that they were following the global evolution of the pandemic and would update their recommendations for action if necessary.

The WHO said on Friday that the number of officially confirmed H1N1 flu cases worldwide had reached 89,921.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

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I also found that most people in Geneva have no awareness of the pandemic and laugh off its possible impact on Geneva.

A pharmacist told me that Geneva has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world, so even just taking a vaccine will be a problem here.

The H1N1 virus may be mild, but it spreads quickly and still means at least 1 week off work. Its impact will be economically severe and also strain the healthcare system.

Prevention and preparedeness through awareness will go a long way of helping the Swiss economy survive a pandemic situation.

Swiss people whom I talked to, including many foreigners who lived in CH for a long time, thought I was over-reacting and scaring them, when I talked about the possible high outbreak of more SwineFlu infections.
It may turn out to be a false alarm, then I am most happy to be "proved wrong". However, if this swineflu virus mutates or becomes more deadly (it is statistically 4 times more fatal than normal flu), then I am also not laughing.
Swiss people and authorities need to take this threat more seriously and not think it will "never hit us".