An estimated 15% of people in Ireland have contracted swine flu since the outbreak of the virus last spring.

The National Director of Population Health says he thinks the swine flu vaccination programme got off to a good start yesterday.

A PATIENT critically ill with swine flu was flown abroad for a specialised treatment only recently available here.

THE rate of swine flu infection rose “significantly” last week, with Department of Health officials fearing that the upward trend may indicate the onset of the winter “spike” in the numbers of those affected by the illness.

Officials from the Department of Health and the HSE are set to face questions about the swine flu pandemic from TDs and Senators today.

THE question of whether people will be charged by GPs to administer the human swine flu vaccine has not yet been discussed, it emerged yesterday.

MORE than 1,800 people have been diagnosed with swine flu in the past week alone, with four being treated in intensive care units over serious concerns for their safety.

The country’s top health officials have stated that there are no plans in place to close schools even in the event of a swine flu outbreak.

Health officials are warning of more deaths from swine flu after a young woman became the first person to die from the virus at a Dublin hospital.

A young woman has died from swine flu in the first reported Irish death south of the border, health officials confirmed tonight.

AT least 500 people in Ireland are contracting swine flu every week, the latest briefing from the Department of Health reveals.

DEATHS from swine flu in Ireland are inevitable as the disease begins to sweep the country, the Health Service Executive has warned.

THERE are no more probable or confirmed Irish swine flu cases, the Department of Health has stated.

EVEN though there have been more than 600 cases of the superbug C-diff recorded in Ireland in just the past two months, health officials have confirmed they are not recording the numbers of people dying from illnesses relating to the condition.

HEART disease death rates have been cut by more than half in the past two decades, with targets set in the 1990s for a reduction in the death rate being met.

Evelyn Ring