First ‘direct contact’ swine flu infection

TWO more cases of swine flu, including the first “direct contact” infection from another patient in Ireland, have been confirmed by health authorities.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said two women in the west and east of the country have become the latest Irish people to be infected by the highly virulent condition.

The cases, confirmed on Friday morning, bring the total number of infections in the country to nine – with five occurring in the past week alone.

The two women are understood to have contracted the virus in recent days, with the woman in the west of the country being infected by an “in-country transmission” from a previous patient.

The only other confirmed cases in the west of the country involve a man and his child who had recently returned from New York and who are believed to be living in Co Limerick.

However, a Department of Health spokesperson declined to clarify whether the latest confirmed case in the west was related to this family.

All patients still infected with the virus are being treated at home with all necessary public health protection measures being implemented.

Both the Department of Health and the HSE have advised people who have visited an affected area and have developed flu-like symptoms to ensure high levels of hygiene and to make initial contact with their GP by telephone if they believe they may have contracted the virus.

According to the latest update from the World Health Organisation, there have been more than 15,500 cases since it first emerged in late April, resulting in 99 deaths.

Of these, almost 5,000 cases and 85 deaths have been reported in Mexico, with more than 200 people contracting the virus in Britain and Northern Ireland.

The HSE has arranged for information leaflets to be delivered to households in order to answer questions over a possible major outbreak.

The chairman of Ireland’s National Influenza Expert Group Professor Bill Hall has described swine flu as an “unpredictable” and highly infectious virus which fully deserves the high levels of precautions being taken.