Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo has disclosed that Zambia is experiencing severe pneumonia cases caused by influenza and coronaviruses.
And Masebo says that the Ministry of Health does not currently have influenza vaccines in its national immunization schedule but has urged those not yet vaccinated against COVID-19 to do so.
Rendering a ministerial statement in the National Assembly this morning on the Influenza and COVID-19 situation in the country, Masebo said that 13 people were currently admitted to the University Teaching Hospital and Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital with severe forms of pneumonia.
“All these individuals are receiving oxygen as part of their management. Only one is in critical condition. We unfortunately lost one male patient who had severe pneumonia cause by influenza and another bacterial infection,” she disclosed.
Masebo explained that over the last four weeks, her ministry has analyzed 373 samples collected from influenza surveillance sites in Chipata, Livingstone, Lusaka, Nakonde, Ndola, and Solwezi and found 9% positivity for influenza, specifically H1N1, H3N2 and Influenza B among the under-5 and 18 to 49 years age groups.
The minister also said the ministry has continued to separately monitor COVID-19 trends and has seen a slight increase in the weekly positivity from 1.5% to 2.8%.
“Specifically, our most recent data indicates that out of 322 samples tested for COVID-19, nine (2.8%) were positive. When we look at our monthly trends, between May and June, we tested 3,070 samples and of these, 74 (2.4%) were positive,” she said.
Of the positive samples, 43 emanated from Lusaka, nine from the Copperbelt and seven from Southern Province. Central and Luapula provinces contributed six each, while Eastern and Northern provinces had two and one respectively.
Cumulatively, 4,770 cases were recorded in the first half of this year, with Copperbelt Province recording the most numbers.
Masebo reiterated and urged the importance of good hygiene and respiratory etiquette in stemming disease and encouraged citizens to continue implementing preventive measures, which include frequent hand washing with soap, or sanitizing; covering one’s mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and the correct disposal of used tissues.
She added that frequently touched objects and surfaces must be regularly cleaned and disinfected and that people should avoid close contact and mask up, especially if infected.
She assured that management plans had been refined and dedicated spaces created to manage the affected people.
“We have made sure that we have constant and adequate availability of oxygen. We have also activated the procurement of specific medicines for treatment of Influenza. We have further made sure that we have commodities needed for management of COVID-19 and other respiratory bacterial infections, which are currently circulating around.”
For over a week now, information from various external medical and diplomatic sources has been circulating that Zambia has a pneumonia outbreak.
“This outbreak is related to COVID-19 and is most likely caused by the Delta variant, which severely impacts the lungs. Many cases have been traced back to people traveling from South Africa,” read one such alert addressed “to all residents and visitors” seen by Zambian Digest.