Flu outbreak stabilises in Britain - but not Asia

Friday July 31st, 2009

The British swine flu outbreak seemed to be stabilising yesterday after schools broke up for the summer holidays.

GPs and the national helpline NHS Direct reported falling numbers of calls and cases last week.

However this might have been because of the introduction of the government's dedicated flu treatment service.

According to the Health Protection Agency, some 793 people have needed hospital treatment because of swine flu and the total of deaths reported in England stands at 27.

It estimates there were some 110,000 new cases in England last week - a slight increase on the previous week.

However globally the disease continues its spread.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has identified some 1,012 deaths reported by governments and some 168,895 confirmed cases.

Deaths have now been reported in several south-east Asian countries, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

Brazil has reported 34 deaths, Peru 23 deaths, New Zealand 13 deaths and Australia 50 deaths.

Meanwhile national health organisations were urged today to ensure they monitor the impact of new flu vaccines properly - to ensure that complications are detected.

The Lancet today calls on the USA to fall in line with the World Health Organisation over the introduction of vaccines.

An editorial states: "Some fear a repeat of the 1976 H1N1 outbreak in the USA, where mass vaccination was associated with complications, which stopped the campaign and led to the withdrawal of the vaccine.

"Countries need to assess carefully the risks and benefits of rapid approval of an H1N1 vaccine, especially since the disease has so far been mild with most patients making a full recovery."

Tags: Asia | Australia | Flu & Viruses | North America | Traveller Health | UK News | World Health

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