An epidemic is officially declared when the number of GP consultations recorded by the Royal College of GP exceeds
200 per 100,000 population.
Last week the figure stood at 155 consultations per 100,000 population but another, larger, database which is more up to date has recorded 221.4 consultations per 100,000 population
Tower Hamlets in east London remains the area with the highest number of GP consultations for people with flu-like illness.
It is seeing
792 consultations per 100,000 people, followed by Islington in north London with 488 consultations per 100,000.
Other badly affected parts of England include Greenwich, south east London, Leicester, and Telford and Wrekin.
The number of new cases of swine flu has doubled in a week but the number of patients admitted to hospital has only increased by around 28 per cent.
SHOOT: And it's summer there right now.
Bloomberg: England and Wales are suffering the worst rates of flu in a decade, even though the typical flu season in that region doesn’t start for several months.
Children are being hit the hardest and there are relatively few cases amongst the elderly as it is thought they may have some immunity to H1N1 fromprevious pandemics.
The news came as the National Pandemic Flu Service website appeared to crash within minutes of opening and the new phoneline for those with symptoms and capable of handling one million calls a week, was launched.
The number for the National Pandemic Flu Service for England is 0800 1513 100
and the website address http://www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu
A third of deaths have been in children under 15.
Sir Liam said 16 per cent of deaths that have been fully investigated were found to be in previously healthy people.
Weekly cases of the H1N1 virus have almost doubled in a week and Justin McCracken, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, said the number of GP consultations about flu are in line with epidemic levels.
"We are there or there abouts," he said.
|
clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment