Swine flu stockpiles to be used for seasonal flu as death toll hits 50

BRITISH health officials, battling a seasonal flu epidemic that has already killed 50 people, told doctors yesterday they should use stockpiled H1N1 pandemic shots to protect patients if they had no seasonal vaccines available.

Britain is experiencing a sharp increase in both mild and severe flu cases this winter, most of them caused by the H1N1 strain, also known as swine flu, leading to local shortages of seasonal vaccine.

Yesterday hospitals across the country begin cancelling planned operations to free up intensive care beds to deal with a rising numbers of seriously ill flu patients.