THERE were an estimated 100,000 new cases of swine flu last week in England, the Health Protection Agency said yesterday.

BRITISH health chiefs are preparing to vaccinate the entire population against swine flu, it emerged yesterday, while Thailand has opened a pilot vaccine plant fearing “hundreds of thousands” of cases.

FOURTEEN people are now thought to have died in Britain after contracting swine flu, the government announced yesterday.

An English schoolgirl with underlying health problems has died after contracting swine flu.

Two new cases of swine flu, one a child, have been diagnosed in the UK, British health secretary Alan Johnson said today.

The first person to contract swine flu in England without visiting Mexico believes he caught the virus from a colleague after only a brief meeting.

Three more people in the UK have been diagnosed with swine flu, the British Department of Health (DH) said today.

Drivers in the North could face zero tolerance on drink-driving with just one pint of beer putting them over the limit, it emerged tonight.

A zero alcohol limit should be introduced for inexperienced drivers in the North, an Assembly member insisted today.

ALL patients’ hospital medical records are to be standardised next year to ensure vital information is not missed, the Health Service Executive (HSE) announced yesterday.

EVERYBODY should be treated as a potential organ donor unless they explicitly ask to opt out of the system, Britain’s chief medical officer said yesterday.

Customers at a restaurant and an hotel visited by a poisoned ex-KGB officer will be tested for the radioactive substance that killed him, health chiefs said today.

FEARS of a widespread outbreak of bird flu across Britain were receding last night as an infected swan found in Scotland remained the only confirmed case of the deadly H5N1 strain.

It is rare for an animal virus to cross the species barrier and infect humans, but when it does it can spark panic and fear around the world.

GlaxoSmithKline is set to announce this week that it could produce millions of doses of vaccine within four months of the declaration of a bird flu pandemic, it was reported today.

HUNGARIAN officials announced yesterday that preliminary experiments with an H5N1 vaccine indicate it works.

Plans to vaccinate everyone in the UK against pandemic ‘flu once a potentially-fatal strain emerges were announced by the British government today.

THE Government is expected to appoint the new secretary general of the Department of Health next Tuesday, following the cancellation of today’s Cabinet meeting in Cork.

Smoking will be banned in the majority of enclosed public places in England within four years, the British government confirmed today.

Thousands of patients in the UK were warned today they may have been exposed to vCJD through blood plasma products.

A LARGE British pub chain announced significant steps towards a ban on smoking yesterday.

THE row over the doctor who sparked the MMR controversy intensified last night after the British Chief Medical Officer made stinging criticisms of his research.

Smoking should be banned in public places in Britain, senior doctors demanded today.

AT least 20,000 brains were taken for research following post-mortems without the consent or knowledge of relatives, a new report revealed.

SMALLPOX was eradicated in its natural form following a global vaccination programme.

The British government’s chief medical officer today denied there was a risk of a measles epidemic because of fears about the controversial MMR vaccine.

The British public should be on their guard against a possible anthrax threat, Scotland Yard said today.

A report has revealed Harold Shipman, convicted of murdering 15 patients, may have killed up to 297 others.