Swine Flu Cases in Britain Could Be Reaching a Plateau

The increase in British swine flu cases could have reached a plateau, with 110,000 new diagnoses in England last week, the government said today.

The new tally is a 10% rise on the 100,000 new cases estimated in the previous week, but the number of cases had doubled in the week prior to that.

Deaths linked to the H1N1 virus in England have reached 27, and 793 people with the virus are being treated in hospital; but the number of such patients in hospital has fallen slightly from last week, when there were 840.

It was unclear whether the launch of the National Pandemic Flu Service for England had affected the estimated number of cases.

Rather than call a GP, people with swine flu are being urged to contact a helpline or get their diagnosis online.

The government said producing reliable estimates of infections was "very challenging" due to the switch from GP consultations to the online and phone service.

It is thought that the start of the school summer holidays could have cut the spread of the virus, with fewer new cases being reported among children aged five to 14.

Cases of infection in other age groups and in the north of England had risen. But there was no sign that the virus was changing or becoming resistant to antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu, health officials said.

Four people in Scotland have died after contracting swine flu.

This week, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the global death toll from swine flu had topped 1,000. The center's figures show 1,012 deaths worldwide as of Tuesday, with 168,895 confirmed cases.

The ECDC, whose death figures are almost 200 higher than those reported by the World Health Organization, gets its statistics from health ministry websites. These sites are reasonably up to date. The WHO, however, is required to await official notification of deaths before listing them.