A 22-year-old student at Stellenbosch University has become the first confirmed casualty of the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, the Department of Health said on Monday.
Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the student died last Tuesday (July 28) after suffering from cardiac arrest.
”I wish to express my sincere condolences to the family of the 22-year-old university student whose death was confirmed by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases [NICD] to be due to Pandemic Influenza [H1N1] 2009, also known as swine flu,” he said in a statement written in his personal capacity.
”The death of a person so young, who was actively building his future career, is indeed unfortunate and deeply regretted.”
According to the NICD website the virus had infected 480 people in South Africa by the end of July.
According to the department’s information, the man went to the campus clinic on July 20 with flu-like symptoms.
When he did not improve he went to a general practitioner.
He left campus and went to stay at his parents’ home over the weekend, but after consulting another doctor he was referred to a Western Cape private hospital for treatment.
He was treated as a case of atypical pneumonia.
Last Monday his condition deteriorated and he was moved to the intensive-care unit, where he died the next day.
The NICD, a World Health Organisation (WHO) reference laboratory, confirmed the presence of the H1N1 virus on Monday.
”We are encouraged by the fact that the majority of cases in South Africa have so far been mild and we hope that this will remain so despite this unfortunate death,” said Motsoaledi.
According to the WHO website at the end of July, there were 134 503 confirmed cases of swine flu and 816 deaths recorded across the world.
To date 14 countries in Africa have been infected by the virus, with South Africa accounting for the highest number of cases. — Sapa