Swine flu outbreak claims 13 lives in the North
Yesterday the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland confirmed 13 people had died since the onset of the annual flu season in November. Nine of the deceased had underlying health conditions. Those who died ranged from children to pensioners.
Here, the Department of Health has reported a doubling of human swine flu cases in the past week.
GPs have diagnosed about 5,400 new cases, twice as many as last week.
The number of people being treated in intensive care units stands at 26.
Last night Fine Gael health spokesperson Dr James Reilly warned that acutely ill patients left waiting in overcrowded emergency departments “are at enormous risk of contracting swine flu, posing serious risk to their lives”. He said the potential for cross-infection was huge particularly among patients with weak immune systems such as cancer patients or those with cystic fibrosis.
The latest swine flu figures represent a rate of over 120 new cases for every 100,000 people.
During the peak of the pandemic in 2009, there were more than 200 new cases for every 100,000 people. Last year swine flu claimed 24 lives. No deaths have so far been reported here this flu season.
Yesterday the Health Service Executive (HSE) said it received a delivery of 650,000 seasonal flu vaccines in September and has 30,000 in stock as well as 100,000 more on order. The HSE said it also plans to deliver supplies of Pandemrix, the vaccine used during last year’s H1N1 pandemic vaccination campaign, to GPs. “As almost 90% of seasonal flu cases at present are H1N1, this will ensure continuity of supply of vaccines against swine flu if infection rates, as expected, continue to rise over the coming few weeks,” a HSE statement said.
Swine flu patients given out-of-date boxes of Tamiflu are being told the drug remains effective following a decision by the European Medicines Agency to extend its shelf life by two years.
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