All pregnant women with flu-like symptoms should immediately be put on Tamiflu, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said on Tuesday.
His call came as the number of deaths from swine flu, formally known as the A (H1N1) virus, rose to 20.
Health authorities say most of the dead are pregnant women, some of whom had other underlying illnesses such as diabetes or tuberculosis.
”We find it very worrying that there is an increasing number of pregnant women who are succumbing to this pandemic,” Motsoaledi said in a statement.
”The directive to all healthcare workers… is to put pregnant women with flu-like symptoms (even if they are mild) on Tamiflu treatment.
”Doctors should not wait for any tests before such treatment is administered.”
The Health Ministry said the third trimester of pregnancy had been identified as particularly risky for severe H1N1 illness.
It was therefore critical that H1N1 be considered as the prime suspect in any pregnant woman with flu-like symptoms.
On Monday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases also said pregnancy had been identified as a particular risk factor for severe swine flu.
It said that in the second and especially the third trimester, urgent treatment with antiviral drugs should be considered even before any laboratory results were received.
The institute added, however, that most swine flu cases in South Africa remained mild and ”self-limiting”.
Routine H1N1 testing for everyone with flu-like illness was still not recommended.
Nationwide, there had been 5 118 laboratory-confirmed cases of swine flu, it said. — Sapa