Britain braces for 100,000 swine flu cases a day

Britain on Thursday admitted that there could be over 100,000 cases of swine flu per day in the country by the end of next month.

The rising number of swine flu cases mean trying to contain the virus is no longer an option, Health Secretary Andy Burnham said in a statement on Thursday.

[efoods]“The national focus will be on treating the increasing numbers affected by swine flu. Cases are doubling every week and on this trend we could see over 100,000 cases per day by the end of August,” he said.

The minister said vaccines should be available from next month, with 60 million doses available by the end of next year.

There have been more than 7,000 confirmed cases in the UK since the first outbreak in April. Three people have died, but all had underlying health problems.

It means anti-flu drugs will no longer be given to the close contacts of those infected nor will lab testing be done to confirm cases.

The move has been made to relieve the pressure on the health service.

The announcement, which comes into effect immediately, has long been expected.

This article was posted: Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 12:01 pm

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