Vaccine urged as number of swine flu cases trebles
A spokesperson for the health authority said the H1N1 virus strain was included in the seasonal flu vaccine that offered the best protection against swine flu.
“Anyone who has not already had the vaccine, particularly pregnant women and people with long-term health conditions, people aged 65 and their carers and healthcare workers should consider getting the vaccine,” he said.
There were 91 confirmed cases of swine flu reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre up to Sunday, December 26, compared with 30 the previous week. The number of people hospitalised for swine flu continues to rise with 36 cases at the end of December.
A spokesperson for the HSE said the rate of swine flu infections was 10 times less than they were at the height of the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
“The rate of flu infection at the moment is what we would expect at this time of year, but swine flu is the most prevalent type of flu circulating in the country,” he pointed out.
Dublin GP Dr Tony O’Sullivan said the swine flu injection had not worked very well in protecting children.
“I have personally seen cases where I am very convinced that the child had swine flu because of the symptoms and yet these are children who had received the swine flu vaccine,” he said yesterday.
Dr O’Sullivan said those at risk, particularly pregnant women, should get the seasonal flu vaccine, even if they have already received the swine flu vaccine.
The doctor said he would not be surprised if people died as a result of contracting swine flu.
“People who are worried about the symptoms associated with the illness should definitely seek help from their GP, because there are anti-viral drugs available to treat the illness.” he said.
He stressed that, for most people, swine flu was a relatively mild disease from which they would quickly recover.
Dublin pharmacist Eamonn Fitzgerald said he had noticed an increase over Christmas in the number of people falling ill.
“There is a lot of sickness going around at the moment and for flu we recommend paracetamol for symptoms relief, plenty of liquids and rest,” said Mr Fitzgerald.
