Parts of Britain "near an H1N1 epidemic"; 14 dead

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LONDON (Reuters) - Fourteen Britons who had contracted H1N1 flu have died and the rapid spread of infection in two areas of the country is close to epidemic level, health officials said on Thursday.

The Department of Health said Britain now had 9,718 laboratory-confirmed cases, the third most in the world behind the United States and Mexico.

Britain's Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said the actual number of cases was likely to be higher.

All 14 who have died had underlying health issues and it was not clear in how many cases the patients had died as a direct result of the virus, known as swine flu.

"In London and the West Midlands we are getting pretty close to epidemic levels. We've seen big surges there," Donaldson told

BBC TV.

"For the country as a whole, the average is about the level of the flu season but in some parts of the country the levels are getting pretty big."

The World Health Organization declared on June 11 that the outbreak of the virus was a pandemic and more than 94,500 cases have been reported worldwide.

Health Minister Andy Burnham said last week the government was projecting more than 100,000 new cases a day of the flu by the end of August.

While most people who have caught the infection have suffered mild symptoms, in a small minority it has proven more severe.

The Department of Health said that 335 people in Britain were currently in hospital after contracting the infection, with 43 of those described as critical.

Donaldson said there were no signs the virus was becoming more virulent, although he warned it could mutate.

"It does tend to affect people with underlying illnesses quite severely and a small number of healthy adults can get the severe complications of flu but the majority of them get a mild illness," he said. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Louise Ireland and Steve Addison)

 

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Re: Parts of Britain "near an H1N1 epidemic"; 14 dead

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6675560.ece

July 9, 2009
Swine flu-linked deaths double in three days

David Rose

The number of people known to have died after contracting swine flu has doubled in three days, officials said today.

Fourteen people infected with the virus are now known to have died as thousands of people seek medical help with their symptoms every day.

At least 335 people have needed hospital treatment after contracting the H1N1 flu strain with the level of infection in London already reaching epidemic levels. Of these, 43 were still said to be in a ?critical condition?.

The figures mean that Britain now has the third highest number of cases of swine flu in the world after the US and Mexico, Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, said. The virus has caused hundreds of deaths worldwide.

But health officials said that the health service was ?coping well? with outbreaks of illness as most cases were mild and did not require medical treatment.

Sir Liam admitted it was unknown how many people in the UK were truly suffering from the virus as many people would be treating themselves at home rather than contacting their GP.

The latest figures from the Government suggest that as many as 27,000 people in England and Wales contacted their GP complaining about ?flu-like illness? in a single week, with the worst-affected areas being London and the West Midlands.

Of these, an estimated 8,000 would actually have swine flu, according to the latest laboratory sampling.

The rate of reported flu symptoms is already as high as experienced last winter, when the NHS came under intense pressure at evenings and weekends.

The estimate, based on a sample of GP practices around the country, is equivalent to a rate of 51 people complaining about flu symptoms for every 100,000 people in the country.

The rate of cases in London is more than three times the national average, with nearly 180 people per 100,000 population effected. The situation in London is already approaching the level of flu reports in the last official ?epidemic? of seasonal flu, in the winter of 1999-2000. The West Midlands was the second worst affected area in the past week, with around 120 reports per 100,000 population.

Of the 14 deaths, 12 occurred in England and two in Scotland. But no further details were available.

Justin McCracken, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency (HPC), said the organisation would not be releasing information about individual deaths, adding that it was a local decision in each case whether to release details of where and who the victims were.

The Government last week announced a shift from a containment strategy surrounding the virus to a ?treatment phase?, which means cases are no longer confirmed in a laboratory.

The number of cases is now being monitored in various ways, including laboratory testing on sample groups, some GP practices and the number of calls received by NHS Direct.

However Sir Liam acknowledged that the true number of people with swine flu was unknown.

?We do know something about the people seeking help from the NHS but there will be many other people who look after themselves or don?t realise they have it and don?t show up.

?We have to acknowledge the problem is bigger than surveillance is showing us.?

He added: ?That will always be the case, it would be the case with seasonal flu or anything else.?

As of today there were 9,718 confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK.

This was just behind Mexico, with 10,262 cases. The United States currently has 33,902 confirmed cases.