H1 N1 and the 6th death

A [left]windfall for some
The Egyptian Gazette 3 Nov 2009

Ramadan A. Kader
As the Ministry of Health reported yesterday the sixth swine flu death in this country of 80 million people, fears heightened about a potential outbreak in the looming winter. On Saturday the fifth fatality was reported. It was a nine-year-old schoolchild in Helwan, south of Cairo. The news of his death coincided with an increase in detected H1N1 infections
, which have exceeded 1,200. They include cases among schoolchildren and university students. At least seven schools and several classrooms have been ordered closed for two weeks since the new academic year started in Egypt on October 3. The death is the first reported among schoolchildren. Last week, the Government denied rumours that it plans to close schools later this month for fear of the spread of swine flu. "The attendance rates at schools and universities exceed 90 per cent, and the cases contracting swine flu are still low in numbers," said the Cabinet's Information and Decision-Making Support Centre in a statement. "The closure of schools, where cases are detected, is part of our efforts to curb the virus spread," added the statement. Teachers and parents, however, report high rates of absenteeism particularly at schools where infections have been detected. "I prefer to keep my children at home and hire private tutors for them to put their lives at risk by sending them to school," said Nahed Hameida, a mother of three. "The fact that more schools are closed and a fifth death is reported indicate that swine flu is becoming more ferocious," she added. Fears about a swine flu pandemic bordering on the hysterical have proved a windfall for many professionals in Egypt. Private teachers have a tight schedule. Being highly in demand to provide at-home tuition, many of them have already raised their fees, thereby adding to families' financial woes. Drug stores, meanwhile, report a roaring business in disinfectants. Local producers say they have increased their output by some 400 per cent over the past few weeks. "The prices of disinfectants and cleaning substances have soared since the start of the school year," said Sayyed Younis, the chairman of the Chemicals Department at the Egyptian Chamber of Chemical Industries. "The soaring demand has exhausted the availability of some substances such as gel wipes." Younis accused merchants of taking advantage of the crisis to jack up prices and amass big profits. To meet the demand for disinfectants, local manufacturers have put on the market new products including special paper tissues and aromatic oils publicised as able to kill germs. Herbs such as aniseeds, believed to help in protection from the virus, are highly in demand too.

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