Nine from Hawke’s Bay on same flight as students

Nine people from Hawke’s Bay on same flight as students from Auckland.

Nine people from Hawke’s Bay were on the same flight as the Auckland students suspected of having swine flu

Medical officer of Health Caroline McElnay said the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board’s public health unit received faxed copies of travel cards at 5pm last night and contacted all but one of the nine passengers. One passenger was unable to be contacted by phone.
No-one contacted reported being unwell with flu like symptoms.

“Passengers will be visited today by a public health nurse and all will be offered Tamiflu and asked to self isolate for seven days.

“Appropriate tests will be taken if any of the passengers show symptoms that the visiting nurse is concerned about, Dr McElnay said.

Anyone returning from Mexico or North America within the last fortnight and has flu like symptoms should phone their GP or nearest medical centre for advice.

The normal symptoms of influenza include fever, cough, headache, muscle aches and pains, runny nose and sore throat. Patients with the Swine flu in Mexico and North America have also reported nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Anyone with flu like symptoms who has not recently returned home from overseas or been in contact with anyone who has should initially treat it as a normal flu or cold and stay home keep warm and if the symptoms worsen contact their GP.

ENDS

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