IDADI YA WATU WALIOSOMA HABARI HII: Tanzania was yesterday on fresh health alert following confirmed cases of students with the dreaded swine flu at a Dar es Salaam school. The Dar es Salaam Regional Medical Officer (RMO), Dr Judith Kahama, told ‘Daily News’ that six students and two teaching assistants at the International School of Tanganyika in the city had tested positive and treated at the school’s clinic. She said that the students and the teaching assistants had a recent international travelling history, meaning that they could have been infected on their recent travel from holidays outside Tanzania. She said: “It has only been a week since the students resumed school from holiday and they could have been infected on their recent travel out of the country.” She added that four of the patients had since been treated and discharged. She, however, did not give the countries to which the students had been but confirmed that they are all foreign students studying at IST. Dr Kahama said after a closed door meeting discussing the issue with health ministry officials following the reports as they attempted to review the reporting system of those infected and how to strengthen the government’s response to the disease. She said the health ministry officials were to roll out countrywide training on response to the disease. The Director of the school, Dr David Shawver, stated on the school’s website yesterday that H1N1 flu cases had been mild (similar to the normal flu and not life threatening). However, the Muhimbili National Hospital Director of clinical services, Prof Andrew Swai, told this paper yesterday, that they had not received any patients, save for three people, a Korean and two British students who were treated and discharged early last month. “We have not received any patients, but we remain on the alert and the quarantine wards are still in service,” said Prof Swai. According to Dr Shawver, the H1N1 Response Team met yesterday morning to review the situation with medical doctors and an epidemiologist from the Centre for Disease Control. He noted that the doctors advised that the school would remain open. “H1N1 flu cases have been mild (similar to the normal flu and not life threatening),” he stated. But he informed that some parts of the school’s full programme have been suspended for the moment in order to increase social distancing (avoiding the congregation of students/community members in a confined space). “School assemblies and the ES Open House scheduled for this week have been postponed or cancelled.” he said. Caution was raised that anyone with a fever should not enter the school’s campus and should seek medical attention immediately. This latest development could mean that the Government could move from trying to contain the disease to treatment. This means the disease could move from the phase where it can be contained to a level where treatment is the only option. The school’s Director urged the public not to panic because the H1N1 strain reported was the mild type which clears without treatment. He assured that the IST’s H1N1 Response Team was in control of the situation. At the same time, he urged students to uphold high standards of hygiene like frequent washing of hands with soap, covering mouth and nose with disposable tissue when coughing or sneezing and avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth. The Dar es Salaam city Chief Medical Officer, Deo Mutasiwa, recently said the country was well prepared for the epidemic, that stocks of Tamiflu were satisfactory and that doses had recently been sent out to Zanzibar as well. The first confirmed case involved a 17-year-old British student who was hospitalised earlier in July in the company of 15 others, detected at Julius Kambarage International Airport and later taken into a quarantine at Muhimbili hospital. He was treated and discharged.