'No need to be scared' of 5th swine flu case: Nunavut medical officer

Nunavut's chief medical officer says Nunavummiut should not panic over swine flu, as the territory confirmed its fifth case on Thursday.

As with the four previous swine flu cases, medical officials did not identify the fifth patient or say what Nunavut community he or she is from.

However, they said the latest patient did not need to enter hospital for the illness, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus.

"There's no need to be scared or panicked or worried," Dr. Isaac Sobol, Nunavut's chief medical officer, said Thursday. "Please just take the normal precautions that we've been indicating … for the past several weeks."

The territory confirmed its first case of H1N1 influenza on Friday, followed that weekend by three more cases involving children.

The three children were flown to Yellowknife for treatment at Stanton Territorial Hospital, as the flu caused lower respiratory tract infections similar to the effects of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Sobol said all Nunavut patients diagnosed with swine flu are doing well.

"Even with respect with the three cases in the Stanton hospital, they are recovering," he said.

"They have not been in intensive care units, they haven't received any extraordinary medical attention."

Sobol said the H1N1 influenza has seemed much like the regular seasonal flu, with the majority of those infected experiencing mild symptoms before recovering.

Controlling the spread of swine flu is very much in the hands of the public, Sobol said. He urged people to wash their hands, cough in their sleeves if they don't have tissues, and to stay home if they're feeling ill.

"The information and the advice we've been giving to the public for weeks remains the same," he said. "There's nothing different that needs to be done or announced at this point."

Over the next two weeks, hospital and health centre staff across Nunavut are testing everyone who shows up with a flu-like illness for the H1N1 virus.