Herefordshire confirms three new swine flu cases in one day - and warns of many more to come
NHS Herefordshire and Herefordshire Council have today confirmed three more cases of swine flu in the county – a 22-year-old woman, a 21-year-old healthcare worker and a 12-year old child. The three cases are not connected and all are responding well to treatment at home.The primary care trust has stated that work colleagues of the healthcare worker have been informed and are reassured. No contact tracing was necessary in this case.
Herefordshire has previously operated a policy of containment and so far, locally confirmed cases have been low. However, the county’s Public Health Incident Team warns that the number of cases will escalate in the next few weeks.
The national policy has now moved from ‘containment’ to ‘treatment’ of the illness, and this is the case in Herefordshire. The new policy moves from measures to try and limit the spread of the pandemic flu virus and focusing on providing appropriate treatment to people with swine flu. It means that GPs will now rely on patients’ symptoms to diagnose illness, rather than waiting for laboratory tests. The national daily reporting of laboratory confirmations is therefore no longer being undertaken and locally it will be difficult to continue to provide accurate confirmations of cases.
To date there has been around 10,000 laboratory confirmed or clinically presumed cases of H1N1 flu in the UK and onward human-to-human transmission has been confirmed in the community as a whole.
If anyone develops flu-like symptoms they should stay at home and contact their GP or phone NHS Direct on 0845 4647, and not go to their doctor’s surgery or the accident and emergency unit. If individuals are diagnosed as having swine flu they should stay at home until their complete their course of prescribed treatment and they become symptom free. Everyone is urged to identify a ‘flu friend’ who is able to collect medicines – like anti viral drugs – as well as food and other essentials for them, without getting into contact with the patient.
Those who have had close contact, either in the home or at work, with people who have flu symptoms must continue to come to work or school as swine flu only becomes infectious if they have developed symptoms. If they do have symptoms, then they should stay at home and contact their GP or NHS Direct by telephone.
The Public Health Incident Team is advising GPs, schools and businesses and updates are being circulated. It is stressing the fact that detailed and robust plans are in place to manage a swine flu outbreak and that so far, the illness has proved to be moderate. The thankfully small numbers of people who have died have also had underlying health problems. Everyone is also being reminded that respiratory and hand hygiene is the single most important thing people can do, at home, work or at school, to reduce their chances of catching or spreading the virus. Always use a tissue to catch your sneezes, throw away used tissues and regularly wash your hands.
Both the primary care trust and the council have identified staff who can be switched from their normal duties to support preparations, such as staffing a local flu hotline, which will be activated if needed, and helping to manage the distribution of antiviral medicine if necessary, while ensuring that the other usual health and council services are maintained.
Currently the government is not advising avoidance of mass gatherings or social events and there are no restrictions in place. The council and the primary care trust are also working closely with the organisers of the forthcoming Big Chill Festival at Eastnor Castle, on 6 to 9 August, and others like Nostock on 31 July to 2 August at Bromyard, to ensure hygiene measures are in place to diagnose and treat festival goers who may contract swine flu.
The government has signed contracts to secure enough vaccine for the whole population of the UK and in Herefordshire, GPs are putting in place plans to be able to offer the vaccine as soon as it becomes available in the autumn this year. The routine vaccination programme will be used to provide the swine flu vaccine in schools.
Residents are reminded that the Department of Health has a Swine Flu Information Line – 0800 1513513 - which contains pre-recorded messages giving background to the disease and what we can all do to prevent its spread. It will refer callers who need more assistance to NHS Direct. The Department of Health has distributed swine flu information leaflets, as part of a national door drop, but people can obtain further copies of the leaflets by downloading them from www.direct.gov.uk/swineflu .
The council and the primary care trust made translations of the flu leaflets available to help migrant and seasonal workers stay healthy too. More information can be found on the Welcome to Herefordshire website: http://www.welcometoherefordshire.com/eng/
More information for public can be found on: www.nhs.uk and www.hpa.org.uk - as well as on the council’s website www.herefordshire.gov.uk and the primary care trust web site http://www.herefordshire.nhs.uk
