1,500 suspected cases of swine flu last week
The figure is three times greater than that given at the latest briefing by the Department of health on Tuesday evening.
Director of the Health Protection Surveillance centre, Dr Darina O’Flanagan, said yesterday that the new figure was based on latest data from the Irish College of General Practitioners.
The figure disclosed by Dr O’Flanagan represents a rate of 37 cases per 100,000, which was equivalent to about 1,500 cases that GPs saw last week.
The peak reported seasonal flu rate last winter was about 120 per 100,000.
The department had said initial reports from 60 GP practices involving 136 doctors around the country had suggested that at least 500 a week were contracting the virus.
The department’s chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, said 12 infected people had been hospitalised and two were in intensive care. He confirmed last night that from now on an estimated number of cases occurring weekly would be based on information from the GP surveillance network.
“As we have been saying consistently, we have anticipated and continue to anticipate, an increase in the number of cases,” Dr Holohan said last night.
“We are continuing our preparations for all eventualities and are preparing a vaccination programme. We would reassure people that the vast majority of cases can be successfully managed at home using medication available over the counter, including paracetemol.”
Dr O’Flanagan said it was no longer feasible to contain the virus because it was now spreading within the population .
She also pointed out the way the virus was spreading had exceeded the country’s normal seasonal flu threshold for the time of year.
She stressed, however, that available information on swine flu suggested that it was a mild epidemic and most people would be able to cope with the illness at home.
Cork GP Dr Nuala O’Connor said she was just beginning to see patients with classic symptoms of swine flu in her practice and that virus hotspots were occurring in other parts of the country.
She said GPs expected to see a sharp increase in patients presenting with flu-like symptoms over the next two months, particularly when children returned from school holidays.
Public health experts reckon that up to 25% of the population – around one million people – will contract the virus between now and Christmas.
Dr O’Connor said many people who will contract the virus will not even bother to see their doctor because they will be able to manage the symptoms themselves.
“We have never been so well prepared globally for something like this. There is a lot of treatment, support and knowledge among the public to minimise the complications from this disease,” she said.
