NAIROBI: Some 50 students of Chianda High school, in Siaya county recently developed symptoms similar to those seen in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
When the students were checked at the nearby hospital, they were found to be suffering from human influenza, commonly known as flu.
This confirmed a 2002 Kenya Medical Research Institute research that showed the influenza viruses are present in Kenya throughout the year but usually pick up during the cold weather of July.
The cold weather is back and has come with many communicable diseases including flu.
“This cold weather will also result in more sore throats, coughs, aches, pains, fatigue and headaches. When people get these symptoms they usually wrongly diagnose themselves as having malaria and buy anti-malarial drugs without consulting their doctors,” observes Kemri's Dr Evans Amukoye, the director respiratory diseases and research.
Many people mistake flu for common cold. They are not the same.
According to medical experts, flu is a serious disease and highly contagious. It attacks the respiratory system and can develop into pneumonia and cause death.
No amount of antibiotics will treat flu. So the best option is prevention through vaccination, advises Dr Amukoye.
There are two main types of the flu virus: A and B. These routinely spread among humans, causing the seasonal flu epidemics every year.
Bird flu, also known as avian flu, mostly affects birds, especially the wild aquatic variety. When these birds come into contact with domestic poultry, the infection can cross over and infect them.
Swine flu mainly affects pigs. Both strains do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections have occurred and at times have proved to be deadly; like the last pandemic was caused by swine flu H1N1.
Since the outbreak of swine flu pandemic, the World Health Organisation recommended that all seasonal human flu vaccines be formulated to also prevent H1N1, swine flu stain.
Human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (H5N1) virus with a high death rate have been reported worldwide since mid 2003.
The spread of avian influenza viruses from person to person is not common.
And, this is where seasonal flu vaccines come in handy. The vaccines have the potential to control the spread or the outbreak of flu pandemics.
Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination and offer immunity for one year. These antibodies provide protection against infection through the viruses in the vaccine.
The WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network monitors influenza viruses circulating in humans annually and recommends a vaccine composition that targets the three most representative virus strains in circulation.
“Everybody is at risk of flu infections. Even people who are young and healthy can get infected. But some people are more fragile and therefore more likely to get flu and develop complications,” says Dr Amukoye.
