THERE has been a massive jump in the number of Irish swine flu cases, just a day after international experts admitted the virus can no longer be contained.
In its latest update on the H1N1 situation, health authorities confirmed that 12 cases have been identified since Thursday evening.
While the Department of Health has declined to detail the exact location of the cases, the rise in the number of infections to 63 has resulted in growing concern over the spread of the flu strand.
On Thursday, the World Health Organisation confirmed the outbreak is now "unstoppable", following another surge in infection rates.
And while the department’s chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, has emphasised the need for calm as the country is strongly placed to cope with a major outbreak, he said it is now likely that the number of cases here will rapidly increase as Britain has stopped tracing possible swine flu carriers.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr Holohan said a vaccine for the virus is nearing completion.
However, he added that the spread of the infection — which has almost trebled in the last three weeks — meant health authorities could soon be left with no option but to follow the British approach and stop mapping where new outbreaks emerge.
At more than 7,000 cases and four swine flu deaths — the latest involving a 19-year-old man from London yesterday — Britain currently has the highest level of swine flu cases in Europe.
While the cases in Ireland have mostly been mild, medical experts are concerned about the likelihood of a far stronger type of swine flu in the winter months and the risk it could merge with a more powerful type of influenza, making the virus significantly more dangerous.
News of the latest increase cases comes after parents and teachers in a Co Roscommon primary school were informed on Thursday that a pupil was infected with the virus.
The young girl, from Roxboro National School, is expected to make a full recovery.
The child was thought to have come into contact with a person who recently returned.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, July 04, 2009
