Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands yesterday revealed that there are now three confirmed lab cases of influenza with the most recent patient being a child. 

Dr. Sands told The Journal that he would rather stray away from the term “swine flu”.

He said, “The fact that the ones that have been tested had been H1N1 we believe that as many as 70 per cent of seasonal cases are going to be H1N1, but it doesn’t change the issue because many of the strains of influenza can be lethal.”

As with vibrio parahaemolyticus that swarmed the conch market this past summer, Dr. Sands said that clinical cases meeting the syndrome definition of the flu virus are different from laboratory cases.

He explained that lab cases have been tested with a virus culture to determine whether an individual has caught the H1N1 virus. 

Dr. Sands added the fact that patients have been confirmed by no means suggests they are the only three patients, who have influenza or the H1N1 virus in The Bahamas. 

With one confirmed death this season and less than 1,000 Bahamians coming in for vaccinations, Dr. Sands urged the public not to play games. 

He said, “Bahamians should understand that the flu is nothing to kid around with. If you look around the world, between 3-5 million people a year get influenza, and about 250,000 or 500,000 of them will die.” 

He added, “Just last year in the United States, 80,000 people died from influenza. We’ve already had at least one death in The Bahamas from influenza. This is no an insignificant problem.” 

The ministry provided 20,000 doses across the nation.

The flu season spans from October-March annually.