‘Significant’ weekly rise in swine flu figures

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.

Department of Health chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan told a news conference last night that the rates of “influenza-like infections” rose to 72.2 per 100,000 of the population in the past week from 40 per 100,000 the previous week.

There was an even more dramatic rise in the number of people committed to hospital with 33 more people hospitalised around the country with swine flu over the past seven days, bringing the total number to 147.