BBC News Girl Gets Swine Flu

Panic gripped the BBC last night after a woman editor at Television Centre was feared to have gone down with swine flu.

Bosses at the Beeb’s West London HQ sent an alert to staff and ordered in extra cleaners amid fears an outbreak could hit programmes.

A shocked insider said after senior editorial staff were yesterday briefed on the suspected case: “No one can really believe the very thing we’ve all been reporting on for so long is now in our midst.”

The editor in her 40s – who works on the BBC News channel – was last night believed to be recovering at home.

An email from Director of News Helen Boaden informed staff: “As you may know, one of our colleagues in the newsroom has swine flu.”

The source said: “There’s a sense of panic. The woman has been working in the same area as staff from some of our most famous programmes like Today and The World At One.

“Two producers have said they may not come into work because they are pregnant. If others follow there will be genuine concerns about our ability to broadcast.”

The BBC insisted: “We do not anticipate any disruption to programming.”

Confirmed cases across the UK reached 3,254 yesterday.

The Infantry Battle School in Brecon, South Wales, became the third military camp hit as two squaddies fell ill.

Swine Flu Cases Rise As Vaccine Deal Struck

A deal has been agreed to provide enough swine flu vaccine doses for the entire UK population as the number of confirmed British cases rose to 3,597.

Among new cases reported were 10 students at the University of Exeter, who are mildly affected by the virus and are receiving medical care.

All are expected to make a full recovery and the Health Protection Agency has advised that the University can remain open.

The new infections come as the Government announced at a swine flu briefing that GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter Healthcare would be producing enough vaccine for the entire UK population.

Initial doses are expected to be available from August, leaving officials with a choice over whether to start by tackling regional virus hotspots or whether to treat vulnerable individuals first.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson told Sky News: “The Government has to decide who gets priority.

“Should it be based on geographic reasons, because the nature of the virus is mild, or do you prioritise those at higher risk, such as people with prior medical conditions?”

Sir Liam added that there was also a case for targeting what he called “super-spreaders” of the virus, and that a team of scientists was working to determine the best course of action.

“We’re still expecting a surge of new cases in autumn and winter,” he warned.

Swine flu hotspots in Britain include the Midlands and east Berkshire, where the virus has spread quickly and health officials are treating the cases as outbreaks of infectious disease.

In these regions, people with swine flu symptoms will start to be clinically diagnosed rather than being confirmed by laboratory reports.

Swabbing will take place only for a small number of cases to keep track of the strength of the virus and people who have come into contact with the virus will not be given the drug Tamiflu as a precaution.

Sir Liam Donaldson stressed that many parts of the country were still in the containment phase.

Reporting from the Department of Health, Sky’s Ian Woods said: “We’re now seeing a move beyond the idea that this can be contained – it’s impossible to do so because it’s a pandemic.

“The focus is now on how to manage this pandemic.”

Contracts Have Been Signed – UK

Contracts have been signed with pharmaceutical companies for enough swine flu vaccine for the entire UK population, Andy Burnham the health secretary said today. It is hoped the first doses of the vaccine will arrive in August, and then more will follow through the autumn.

The number of people in the UK who have had confirmed swine flu has passed 3,500. Yesterday, there were 306 new laboratory confirmed cases in England, 53 in Scotland, and three in Wales.

The current total does not include a number of presumed cases, which have been diagnosed based on symptoms but are still in the process of being confirmed with laboratory tests.

Testing has now confirmed that swine flu was responsible for the death of a Scottish woman earlier in the month. Doctors said that the woman, who also had underlying health conditions, died of multiple organ failure brought on by the virus. So far only a very small minority of UK cases have been severe.

In other news:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised its swine flu alert to Phase 6, indicating a pandemic. The move reflects the geographic spread of the virus and does not suggest any change in its severity.
• Over 52,000 cases have been recorded in 99 countries. Although the majority have not been severe, more than 230 people have died from the virus.

India Has Five More Swine Flu Cases, Total Stands At 73

Five people, including an eight-year-old boy and two teenagers, were detected to have been affected with swine flu Wednesday, taking the total number of influenza A (H1N1) cases in India to 73, health officials said. Two of the new cases are from Delhi, while one each is from Madurai, Hyderabadand Chandigarh, according to the officials. ‘At least 532 persons have been tested so far. Of them, 73 are positive for influenza A(H1N1). Of these, six are indigenous cases, who got the infection from the positive cases who travelled from abroad,’ said an official statement. In Delhi, a 40-year-old man and his wife tested positive for the flu. The man had travelled from the US via Germany and was accompanied by his 39-year-old wife. Both of them had developed fever, sore throat and body ache. ‘They reported to the identified health facility on June 22. Their samples were given for testing and the report showed that they were infected with the virus,’ a health official said. The eight-year-old boy, who came from the US via Mumbai, reached Madurai June 13. His family reported his case to the health facility June 18. The fourth case is from Chandigarh where a 19-year-old youth was found to be infected with the flu. He had also travelled from the US and reached New Delhi June 20. ‘He travelled by road to Gurdaspur. He developed fever, cough on June 22 and reported to the health facility at Chandigarh,’ the official said. The boy studies computer science in California and had come to spend his holidays at his home in Punjab. ‘The patient was admitted to the government hospital in Sector 16 of Chandigarh Monday with a complaint of high fever, running nose and sore throat. Seeing his travel history, we admitted him here in an isolated ward and sent his throat swab samples to NICD (National Institute of Communicable Diseases) in New Delhi,’ H.C. Gera, union territory nodal officer for swine flu, told IANS in Chandigarh. ‘We got the confirmation from NICD on late Tuesday evening that he has tested positive. Our team of doctors is observing him and his condition is stable. There is no need to panic and we are fully equipped to deal with the situation,’ he added. ‘More than a dozen cases of suspected swine flu came to Chandigarh hospitals in the last few weeks but this is the first positive case,’ Gera said. Seven members of the boy’s family too ahve been quarantined. ‘The condition of the family members is normal and they have not shown any symptoms of swine flu till now. However, we would monitor them for the next few days as a precautionary measure,’ Gera said. The fifth case was reported from Hyderabad where a 15-year-old girl, who had come from Hong Kong via Singapore and reached the city June 19, developed complaints of sore throat, running nose and fever. She was admitted to an identified city hospital June 22. Her report confirmed Wednesday she was infected with the flu. Officials in Delhi said a 66-year-old woman, who was admitted to a hospital in the capital after her condition deteriorated, is now in a stable condition. The woman had contracted the flu from her son. She was put on ventilator after her condition worsened as she also suffered from chronic respiratory illness. Of the 73 cases in the country, seven have got the virus through human contact, the officials said. Of these 73 cases, 43 have been discharged and the rest remain admitted to the identified health facility, they said. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), at least 55,867 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection have been reported from 108 countries. There have been 238 deaths worldwide, mostly from Mexico and the US.

Got Swine Flu Symtoms?

As the number of human swine flu cases across the island increases, the National Influenza Centre is urging people with flu-like symptoms – the most common of which are coughing, sneezing, high fevers and headaches – to seek immediate medical attention; otherwise, doctors “may miss the diagnosis”.

While the risk to the sick individual may not be severe, the centre says missing the diagnosis increases the possibility of community spread of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus which has already infected more than 40,000 people worldwide.

Up to yesterday, there were 19 confirmed cases in the country. Last week, Ministry of Health spokesperson on the subject, Dr Marion Bullock Ducasse, said the majority of the infected persons had all either travelled to New York or had been in direct contact with persons who had travelled to the North American state. But yesterday, ministry officials confirmed local spread of the virus.

NIC director, Dr Sandra Jackson, told the Observer last week that once the Influenza A (H1N1) virus replicates beyond the upper respiratory tract – the throat and nose – a process which takes about five days, medical professionals “might miss it”.

“But,” she said, “We are helping to ensure that these cases are found early. When the specimens are taken, in order to isolate the virus and to do the relevant tests, we have to take the samples at the beginning or the onset of the infection because the virus initially replicates in the upper respiratory tract. After that, then you won’t be able to recover it after the first five days of being infected so if it’s not taken in the early onset then you might miss it,” she said. 
“Which is why sometimes even though a person is ill and depending on how the specimen is taken, we might not be able to confirm its presence,” Dr Jackson added.

She, however, declined to comment on specific cases saying patient information was confidential. 
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a global partner of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the surveillance of influenza, backed up Jackson.

“The swine flu in humans is most contagious during the first five days of the illness although some people, most commonly children, can remain contagious for up to ten days. Diagnosis can be made by sending a specimen, collected during the first five days for analysis,” it said on its website.

Of the cases confirmed here so far, the majority were detected by the all-female staff at the NIC located in the microbiology department at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Mona, and their DNA analyst Mr Beecher. The others were done by the region’s only other WHO-accredited laboratory for influenza viruses, the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), in Trinidad.

Established in the 1950s under the headship of professor Louis Grant, the NIC has always been monitoring the various types of influenza viruses in the island and has been playing a critical role in informing the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention as regards the production of influenza vaccines for the northern hemisphere. However, since the first confirmed case of human swine flu was reported in Mexico in April, and the first case diagnosed by the NIC, the centre has gone into overdrive.

But Dr Jackson would not tell the Observer how many samples the centre receives to test each day, saying those figures might give a false impression.

“The work load has increased drastically,” she said. 
“But we, through the Ministry of Health, have been getting collaborative support from PAHO and we are in constant dialogue with CAREC, trying to work through the number of challenges that we might encounter as a result of the number of specimens that we are now getting,” she said last week.

Human Swine Flu prevention tips from the CDC
Everyone should take these everyday steps to protect your health and lessen the spread of this new virus:

. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

. Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

. If you are sick with a flu-like illness, stay home for seven days after your symptoms begin or until you have been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer. This is to keep from infecting others and spreading the virus further.

. Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.

Swine Flu Latest From The NHS

A further 109 cases of swine flu have been confirmed through laboratory testing in England today, bringing the UK total to 2,905. The current total does not include a number of presumed cases, which have been diagnosed based on symptoms but are still in the process of being confirmed with laboratory tests.

Testing has confirmed that swine flu was responsible for the death of a Scottish woman earlier in the month. Doctors said that the woman, who also had underlying health conditions, died of multiple organ failure brought on by the virus. So far only a very small minority of UK cases have been severe.

In other news:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised its swine flu alert to Phase 6, indicating a pandemic. The move reflects the geographic spread of the virus and does not suggest any change in its severity.
• Over 52,000 cases have been recorded in 99 countries. Although the majority have not been severe, more than 230 people have died from the virus.

Swine Flu Puts Summer Camps, Families On Edge

First Australian With Swine Flu Dies In Adelaide

The first death of a person with swine flu in Australia has been confirmed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

A 26-year-old West Australian man, believed to be Aborigine, has been at the hospital since Monday in a critical condition. 

The man was confirmed as positive for swine flu yesterday. 

He was transferred to Adelaide from Alice Springs Hospital on Monday. 

It is believed the man had other medical conditions.

South Australia’s chief medical officer Paddy Phillips tonight said the man, who was transferred from Alice Springs to the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Monday in a critical condition, had tested positive for swine flu yesteray and died this afternoon in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

The man’s death is only the second of someone with the novel virus outside of the Americas.

“This man died with swine flu,” Professor Phillips said.

“I understand it’s only the second outside that region, but certainly this is the first person who has died with swine flu in Australia.”

A spokeswoman for federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon tonight said the current “protect” pandemic phase which the country was moved to on Wednesday would not be changed.

UK Swine Flu Toll Nears 2,000

A further 224 cases of swine flu were confirmed in England today by the Health Protection Agency.

The rise brings the UK total to 1,984.

The figures come after eight students were revealed to have the disease at Bristol University.

Another seven cases in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland are included in the UK total.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The localised cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been generally mild in most people, but are proving to be severe in a small minority of cases.”

The new cases revealed today include six in the east of England, 49 in London, three in the North East, 16 in the South East, 144 in the West Midlands and six in Yorkshire and Humber.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there are a further 41 “clinically presumed” cases in England and 1,195 in Scotland, which have not yet been confirmed through laboratory tests.

Swine Flu Case Reported In Horwich

Bolton has its first case of swine flu.

It has been confirmed that a man from Horwich, who recently travelled to America, has the virus.

He has mild symptoms of the condition and is recovering at home.

His wife and two children have no signs of swine flu but are also being given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu as a precaution.