UK swine flu deaths rise to 14
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Fourteen people are now thought to have died in the UK after
contracting swine flu, the Government announced today.
Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said the latest figures
did not mean they all died as a direct result of swine flu but that
many had the virus.
There are currently 335 people in hospital in England with swine
flu of which 43 are in critical care, he added.
The UK now has the third highest number of cases of swine flu in
the world after the US and Mexico.
However, 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.
It is unclear where or when the latest deaths linked to swine flu
occurred.
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.
Sir Liam said latest data from 100 GP surgeries around England
showed that about 27,000 people per week were being diagnosed by
their GP as having a flu-like illness.
Of these, an estimated 8,000 will have swine flu.
As of yesterday there were 9,718 confirmed cases of swine flu in
the UK.
This was just behind Mexico, with 10,262 cases.
The US currently has 33,902 confirmed cases.
However, cases of swine flu in the UK are no longer being diagnosed
by laboratory testing as the virus continues to spread.
Of the 14 deaths, 12 occurred in England.
Sir Liam said today that London and the West Midlands were
approaching epidemic levels in terms of the number of cases being
seen.
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,
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 continued: "That will always be the case, it would be the case
with seasonal flu or anything else."
Last week Health Secretary Andy Burnham said estimates were that
100,000 new cases of swine flu could occur in the UK by the end of
August.
Sir Liam said that was the most accurate prediction to date of what
will happen.
It is widely expected that the number of cases will see a surge in
the winter months when flu is more prevalent.
Sir Liam explained that the Government was also using a system
called QSurveillance to monitor the situation.
This automatically draws data on a daily basis from GP electronic
records.
About 15% of calls to NHS Direct are currently about colds and flu,
he added.
Figures for the rates per 100,000 people in the UK show that
youngsters aged five to 14 are being particularly badly affected by
swine flu, followed by those aged one to four.
Worldwide, there have been 94,512 cases of swine flu in 135
countries, with 429 deaths.
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