Swine flu patient dies in Wythenshawe Hospital

Swine Flu Is Back

The swine flu virus which swept across Britain last year is back and has killed 10 adults in the last six weeks, it emerged today.

Some of the people who have died did not have underlying health conditions when they were hit by the illness.

A father-of-three, aged in his 30s, was on a life support machine today after being struck down by the H1N1 virus.

The Royal Mail worker was being treated at Southport and Formby District General Hospital, Merseyside, and was expected to be moved for specialist treatment.

This winter swine flu has travelled to other European countries who are seeing outbreaks of the virus for the first time.

The 10 people who have died were all adults under 65 and most, but not all, had some underlying health conditions, the Health Protection Agency said.

Experts today expressed surprise at the number of deaths caused by the H1N1 virus this winter.

But crucially the bug has not mutated into a more severe form or targeted the elderly who are most at risk from the virus.

However there have been a significant number of calls to NHS Direct – indicating there is quite a lot of swine flu around.

I am a little surprised to see as much activity as we seem to be seeing – both in terms of its spread in the community and its severity.

‘I don’t see it as being extraordinary but it is more than I would have expected.’

He added that that many people caught swine flu in the pandemic in the summer last year – but relatively few were affected.

There was a second smaller outbreak just before Christmas.

‘A lot of people were infected through the two waves of the last pandemic. We estimate something like two thirds of children and half of adults are likely to have been infected even though they may have had no symptoms,’ he said.

‘We wouldn’t anticipate a big epidemic wave of flu activity due to H1N1 this year. But there are still a substantial number of people who remain susceptible.’

There were 494 deaths from swine flu in Britain between the initial outbreak and April this year.

The number of people getting immunised against flu has fallen this winter – with 66 per cent of pensioners and 40 per cent of at risk adults getting the jab.

Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health, told the Independent: ‘These figures demonstrate the effects of fly are not to be underestimated It is not the same as getting a cold and can seriously affect your health.

‘The seasonal flu jab protects against the dominant strains – this year it protects against three types of flu, including the type known as swine flu.

‘If you are in a risk group, then I would urge you to visit your GP surgery and get the vaccination as soon as possible. It is not too late to get vaccinated for your protection and that of your family.’

New swine flu deaths reported in UK

LONDON — Eight people have died from swine flu in England since early September, health authorities has told AFP, with Britain seemingly at the forefront of a winter resurgence in Europe.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) insisted it was to be expected that the H1N1 strain of flu that caused the 2009 pandemic would be the most common strain this winter.

A spokeswoman told AFP Saturday that since early September, “10 deaths associated with confirmed influenza infection in England have been reported, eight with influenza A H1N1.”

Professor John Watson, head of respiratory diseases department at the HPA, told The Independent newspaper: “We seem to be in the vanguard on this. Other European countries are just beginning to see some H1N1 activity.”

Britain was among the first countries hit by swine flu after it emerged in Mexico early last year, and at one point recorded more than 100,000 new cases a week as the virus was officially declared a pandemic.

Watson said in a statement: “Over the last few weeks we have seen a rise in the number of cases of seasonal flu, including both H1N1 (2009) and flu B.

“We have also received reports of patients with serious illness requiring hospitalisation and outbreaks of flu in schools across the country.”

He warned that it was dangerous for the elderly, pregnant women and people with heart, lung, liver or kidney problems, and urged people to get vaccinated if they were in an at-risk group.

In Britain, spread of swine flu slowed over summer 2009 then briefly accelerated again in cooler autumn weather and as children returned to school in September, but then dropped off into the winter months, and as vaccines started being used.

There were 494 deaths in the year to April 2010, The Independent said.

The World Health Organisation declared the swine flu pandemic over in August, more than a year after the new virus spread around the world, sparking panic and killing thousands before fizzling out.

Merseyside man critically ill with swine flu