Two separate cases of swine flu have been discovered in the Lower Mainland, doctors at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) confirmed yesterday.
The infected individuals, both men in their late 20s, contracted the virus in Mexico.
They exhibited “mild” flu-like symptoms, said Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an epidemiologist with the BCCDC. Neither required hospitalization and both have since recovered.
“It’s reassuring that this swine influenza virus does not automatically mean hospitalization and death,” said Skowronski, who tried to assuage fears of a swine-flu pandemic.
“It may have just the typical influenza-type presentation and symptoms. … This is not necessarily scary monsters.”
The two cases, and four others reported yesterday in Nova Scotia, are similar in severity to the 20 cases reported so far in the U.S.
“The kinds of illness that we are seeing amongst those six confirmed cases in Canada are different than what’s been seen in Mexico.”
In Mexico, around 400 people out of roughly 1,600 suspected cases are hospitalized, suffering from a severe respiratory illness that has killed up to 103. Mexico’s health minister has said around two-thirds of the sick have recovered.
The differences in severity, Skowronski said, could be explained by the way incidents are reported. Only the most severe cases — those requiring hospitalization — are reported in Mexico.
“You need to remember there are many causes — at this time of year — of severe respiratory illness. Only in a portion of the patients in Mexico has this swine influenza virus been found.”
Skowronski said the two mild Lower Mainland cases were identified because widespread reporting prompted the two men to seek medical care.
