Swine Flu ‘out of control’ In UK Hotspots

Parts of Britain now have so many cases of swine flu that it cannot be contained, it was revealed today.

In the worst hit areas, antiviral treatment will only be given to people with symptoms, and schools will no longer be closed.

Speaking this morning, Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, and Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, said that there were hotspots where swabbing and lab confirmations of the virus were now putting an unjustifiable strain on time and resources.

These areas, including the West Midlands and London, are now moving from the containment phase, which is led by the Health Protection Agency, to outbreak management, led by the strategic health authorities and local health trusts.Mr Burnham said that, as of this morning, there were 3,597 lab-confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK.

“The vast majority of these cases have shown only mild symptoms, though some cases have been more serious,” he said.

“Our approach has focused on containing the spread and working with the local NHS to identify cases and isolate them as quickly as possible and treat them with antivirals and treat those around them and offer prophylactic treatment to those around them.

“This is very resource-intensive, but it has been highly successful.”

He added that, while containment had worked very well, the Department of Health had never been under any illusions that it would be able to prevent the spread indefinitely.

He said that, following a meeting of ministers yesterday, the Department of Health had written to all the flu directors at the strategic health authorities to alert them to the need to move to outbreak management. However, he added that the containment strategy remained in place and outbreak management allowed for flexibility in how different areas of the country dealt with the varying severity of the virus’s spread.

In the outbreak management phase, cases of swine flu are determined by clinical diagnosis rather than lab confirmation.

A scientific committee is meeting over the coming days to advise the Government on how to implement treatment. It will consider whether to target only those most vulnerable cases, such as pregnant women and people with underlying chronic health conditions.

Sir Liam Donaldson said that, in this scenario, it may be a better strategy to allow those people with mild symptoms to get through the virus with Paracetamol.

The secretary of state also confirmed that the first of the 60 million doses of the vaccine ordered are expected to arrive by late August and that contracts had now been signed with GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter to secure enough vaccine for the whole population.

Sir Liam added: “In all previous pandemics, excess mortality above the rates of seasonal flu has occurred for about three years afterwards. It’s not just after this winter, it’s the one after that and the one after that. Use of the vaccine will make some impact this year as it is rolled out and even more in the years after.”