ImaPeter

During the Covid-19 pandemic, a strange thing happened. In between rushing to treat all the Covid cases, doctors noticed that something was different – unlike in previous years, hardly anyone was showing up at hospital emergency centres with the flu. The ‘why’ wasn’t a hard question to answer: the raft of public health measures put into place to fight Covid-19, from mask wearing to social distancing to hand sanitising, made a real difference. They impacted not just Covid infection rates, but other common infectious diseases as well. Now, as South Africa lifts mask mandates and we get back to normal, doctors anticipate another return to normal – of flu infection rates. Before the pandemic, influenza (the flu) killed between 6,000 and 11,000 people every year in South Africa. Not everyone is equally at risk – about half of all flu deaths in South Africa occur in the elderly (aged 65+) about another third occur in HIV-infected people, due to their compromised immune systems. Despite different risk profiles in the population, getting or spreading the flu is not something any of us want to do, so here are some helpful tips from the Kena Health team for flu season. 1. Get your annual flu shot As with Covid, vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu. Every year, scientists isolate the most common strains of flu (don’t forget, viruses evolve all the time) and create a vaccine for those. This is why you need to get one every year, as new strains might be prevalent that your old immunity won’t protect you against. The flu shot is available to everyone, but it is especially relevant for people at risk of severe cases, such as the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Healthcare workers and those who work in crowded work environments are also encouraged to get their annual vaccination. 2. Practice good hygiene Thanks to Covid, we are all now very familiar with good hygiene practices. The good news is that what works for Covid also works for the …

NOW EVERYONE IS WELCOME: Kena Health App transforms quality affordable healthcare The Kena Health App offers real-world, cost-effective healthcare to millions of South Africans Sooner or later, everyone gets sick. For those who can afford it, they visit a private GP or clinic to receive a diagnosis and the peace of mind that comes with quality treatment for everyday health concerns. But what happens when that everyday quality care and advice is beyond their means? What happens to those who don’t have the time to wait in a clinic queue or don’t have the money to settle a doctor’s bill? The all-too-common answer is that people delay medical care, or resort to inadequate home remedies or "Doctor Google" for advice. What if there was a better, more inclusive way to offer access to quality healthcare that is both fast and affordable? Although the country is progressively realising the Constitutional right to healthcare, the fact is that a mere 16% of the South African population has access to private medical scheme. Therein lies our burden and our opportunity. Introducing Kena Health – an easy solution where anyone can chat to a nurse, doctor or mental health professional directly from their smartphone. Kena Health is an app that connects users to a team of qualified healthcare practitioners for advice, diagnoses, prescriptions, sick notes, and even referrals to a specialist pathologist or other place of care, as needed. This is all done through their smartphone - and for less than the cost of a Nando’s full chicken meal! Kena Health’s mission is to make quality healthcare accessible to all Kena Health uses a team-based approach that allocates the most suitable healthcare practitioners to each patient's unique needs, based on a shared data view of that patient. Family planning advice, gastritis, anaemia, allergies, UTIs and common colds can be treated by an experienced and qualified nurse. Perhaps an infection, hypertension or other chronic …