I have received the following information from a very reputable SA company on their letterhead. The information was disseminated to all of the company's employees, including those in Namibia. There is thus no reason to doubt its veracity. Only the company's name has been left out.



Swine flu, testing and quarantining

Introduction.

The pandemic flu is now firmly established across the globe. As the pandemic evolved and better knowledge of the illness was gained, the paradigms by which we handled affected people changed. Now, the illness is no longer the life-threatening condition that it was first thought to be. Therefore some of the strategies that were applied at the outset are no longer relevant.

Some important paradigm shifts.

Testing to determine whether or not the illness is swine flu is not recommended (in fact, unless there is good reason to the contrary it is discouraged, as it places an unnecessary burden on lab resources).

Recommendation from the (SA) National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD): “Laboratory confirmation and investigation of all cases, including those with mild illness, is extremely resource-intensive, leaving little capacity for the monitoring and management of severe cases. In addition it diverts limited resources away from managing other diseases such as HIV and TB. In line with a World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation, it has now been decided to stop routine laboratory testing of all suspected cases of pandemic influenza infection.”

People who come into contact with cases of swine flu (ie. not ill, but may be infected) are no longer to be quarantined. The potential benefit does not warrant the lifestyle and economic disruption caused by forced contact quarantining.

A heightened interest has been channelled into identifying those at risk of more severe illness, so that protective measures are focussed on them, rather than all cases of swine flu.

Therefore:

Please do not pressurise your doctor to have a swine flu test, unless you are an “at risk” person, or unless you have a special reason.

Do not expect to be quarantined just because you have come into contact with a case of swine flu, even if you are an “at risk” person. Being quarantined is not a medical treatment intervention; it is a requirement placed on citizens who acquire a contagious medical condition, in the interests of the public good. The requirement placed on doctors to institute quarantining come from various organs of state, via statutes or written directives. Therefore, if the national recommendations, issued via credible state agencies, are not to quarantine, then it is expected that doctors will comply with these recommendations.

This has important workplace implications; should a non-symptomatic employee (no flu symptoms) be barred from going to work, on the grounds of being quarantined, even though quarantining is NOT required, this will be challenged. The doctor will be asked to provide a written motivation for his/her actions.

What has NOT changed?
It is still important that we slow the spread of the virus, so the application of good personal hygiene (infection control) remains important. People who develop a flu-like illness, especially with a fever, should go home on bed rest, as they are a source for infecting others, and also to speed up their recovery.