No Names Left Damn It
01-05-2009, 21:59
Exactly the same as ordinary flu.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8028974.stm
A second person in the UK has caught swine flu without having visited Mexico, tests have confirmed.
The news follows the case of Graeme Pacitti from Falkirk, who was infected after contact with the first Britons to develop the flu, Iain and Dawn Askham.
The UK's second "onward transmission" case is thought to be a man in his early 40s from South Gloucestershire
Meanwhile, a confirmed case of swine flu has been announced in south-east England, bringing the UK total to 13.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says there are now more than 300 confirmed cases of the virus globally.
A total of 642 possible cases are being investigated in the UK.
Earlier the Health Protection Agency confirmed that a woman from the Merseyside , and a schoolgirl in south west England had contracted the virus.
Both had recently returned from Mexico.
The girl's school - Downend, also in South Gloucestershire - will be closed until 11 May and parents have been told to contact their family doctor if any child shows symptoms.
Officials say the two cases are not connected.
UK flu map
Another school in Paignton, Devon, also closed its doors this week after it was confirmed a 12-year-old girl had contracted swine flu.
Experts warned it was "inevitable" that more people will fall ill through "onward transmission", as has already happened in the US, Canada, Spain and Germany.
Scotland's chief medical officer Dr Harry Burns said: "What we will do is try and mitigate the rate of spread but it's inevitable that we're going to see more cases."
Mr Pacitti himself told the BBC he was really disappointed" to find out he had contracted the illness.
He plays in the same six-a-side football team as the UK's first swine-flu patient Iain Askham.
He said he had been given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu as a precaution after meeting him in a pub.
Now confined to home, Mr Pacitti said by telephone: "Today I started to feel better than I have done all week. I'm quite gutted.
"It started last Saturday when I started to feel like I had an upset stomach. From then my throat began to get sore.
"The worst was when I started to get headaches and feel quite feverish."
Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said Mr Pacitti's infection was a "significant development" but that the risk to public health remained low.
CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES
Mexico: 168 suspected deaths, 12 confirmed
US: one death, at least 109 confirmed cases
New Zealand: 4 confirmed, 12 probable cases
Canada: 35 confirmed cases
Spain: 13 confirmed cases
UK: 13 confirmed cases
Germany: 4 confirmed cases
France, Israel, Costa Rica: 2 confirmed cases each
The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong: 1 confirmed case each
"It is concerning but I have to stress that it doesn't mean there's more reason for people to worry," she said.
"We are still very much in the containment phase of this infection."
Of the 13 UK cases confirmed so far, all are thought to have responded well to treatment.
Prime Minster Gordon Brown, who was visiting an NHS Direct centre in Beckenham, south-east London, said the UK was in a good position to cope with the illness .
Quick treatment
"There will be more cases, but at the same time it is treatable," he said.
"If we can get to people quickly, we can trace their contacts and if we can give those affected Tamiflu [anti-viral drug], then we can avoid the problems that we see in some of the other countries," he said.
Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, has said it is impossible to predict how many deaths there could be in the UK until more was known about the virus strain.
SWINE FLU ADVICE
Use clean tissues when you cough or sneeze
Bin tissues after use
Wash hands with soap, hot water or gel
Precautions being taken in the UK include an expansion of anti-viral stocks from 35 million to 50 million by the end of May, the ordering of extra face masks and delivery of information leaflets for every family.
Supplies of antibiotics are to be increased to deal with any complications arising as a result of flu infections.
An advertising campaign to help prevent the spread of the virus has also been launched.
The Department of Health's Catch it, Bin it, Kill it! adverts urge people to cover coughs and sneezes with tissues, throw them away and wash their hands.
So is this a terrifying development, or just media hype? To be honest, I think it's being over-exaggerated, but seeing as this second person lives in the next county along from me, and in the same urban sprawl, I'm not exactly overjoyed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8028974.stm
A second person in the UK has caught swine flu without having visited Mexico, tests have confirmed.
The news follows the case of Graeme Pacitti from Falkirk, who was infected after contact with the first Britons to develop the flu, Iain and Dawn Askham.
The UK's second "onward transmission" case is thought to be a man in his early 40s from South Gloucestershire
Meanwhile, a confirmed case of swine flu has been announced in south-east England, bringing the UK total to 13.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says there are now more than 300 confirmed cases of the virus globally.
A total of 642 possible cases are being investigated in the UK.
Earlier the Health Protection Agency confirmed that a woman from the Merseyside , and a schoolgirl in south west England had contracted the virus.
Both had recently returned from Mexico.
The girl's school - Downend, also in South Gloucestershire - will be closed until 11 May and parents have been told to contact their family doctor if any child shows symptoms.
Officials say the two cases are not connected.
UK flu map
Another school in Paignton, Devon, also closed its doors this week after it was confirmed a 12-year-old girl had contracted swine flu.
Experts warned it was "inevitable" that more people will fall ill through "onward transmission", as has already happened in the US, Canada, Spain and Germany.
Scotland's chief medical officer Dr Harry Burns said: "What we will do is try and mitigate the rate of spread but it's inevitable that we're going to see more cases."
Mr Pacitti himself told the BBC he was really disappointed" to find out he had contracted the illness.
He plays in the same six-a-side football team as the UK's first swine-flu patient Iain Askham.
He said he had been given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu as a precaution after meeting him in a pub.
Now confined to home, Mr Pacitti said by telephone: "Today I started to feel better than I have done all week. I'm quite gutted.
"It started last Saturday when I started to feel like I had an upset stomach. From then my throat began to get sore.
"The worst was when I started to get headaches and feel quite feverish."
Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said Mr Pacitti's infection was a "significant development" but that the risk to public health remained low.
CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES
Mexico: 168 suspected deaths, 12 confirmed
US: one death, at least 109 confirmed cases
New Zealand: 4 confirmed, 12 probable cases
Canada: 35 confirmed cases
Spain: 13 confirmed cases
UK: 13 confirmed cases
Germany: 4 confirmed cases
France, Israel, Costa Rica: 2 confirmed cases each
The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong: 1 confirmed case each
"It is concerning but I have to stress that it doesn't mean there's more reason for people to worry," she said.
"We are still very much in the containment phase of this infection."
Of the 13 UK cases confirmed so far, all are thought to have responded well to treatment.
Prime Minster Gordon Brown, who was visiting an NHS Direct centre in Beckenham, south-east London, said the UK was in a good position to cope with the illness .
Quick treatment
"There will be more cases, but at the same time it is treatable," he said.
"If we can get to people quickly, we can trace their contacts and if we can give those affected Tamiflu [anti-viral drug], then we can avoid the problems that we see in some of the other countries," he said.
Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, has said it is impossible to predict how many deaths there could be in the UK until more was known about the virus strain.
SWINE FLU ADVICE
Use clean tissues when you cough or sneeze
Bin tissues after use
Wash hands with soap, hot water or gel
Precautions being taken in the UK include an expansion of anti-viral stocks from 35 million to 50 million by the end of May, the ordering of extra face masks and delivery of information leaflets for every family.
Supplies of antibiotics are to be increased to deal with any complications arising as a result of flu infections.
An advertising campaign to help prevent the spread of the virus has also been launched.
The Department of Health's Catch it, Bin it, Kill it! adverts urge people to cover coughs and sneezes with tissues, throw them away and wash their hands.
So is this a terrifying development, or just media hype? To be honest, I think it's being over-exaggerated, but seeing as this second person lives in the next county along from me, and in the same urban sprawl, I'm not exactly overjoyed.