ANALYSIS: We are in the throes of full-blown epidemic but it is not too late to be immunised with vaccine
AS EXPECTED, the latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) show a marked increase in the number of people seeking medical care with influenza-like illness.
We now have a full-blown flu epidemic, something that occurs on a relatively frequent basis with seasonal influenza.
Public health doctors confirmed yesterday that almost nine in 10 identified cases are due to influenza A (H1N1) 2009 or swine flu.
Some 11 per cent of victims have had influenza B, while no confirmed cases of a third type, A (H3N2), which is known to be circulating in Britain, have been identified here up to January 2nd.
Coinciding with yesterday’s press conference at Government Buildings, an interesting analysis of influenza cases in the UK from October to December 2010 was published in the infectious diseases journal Eurosurveillance.
Carried out by scientists at the Health Protection Agency in London, it contains the good news that H1N1 virus has not mutated in any significant way from the swine flu bug first identified in 2009. However, it shows the virus is infecting a greater number of people aged 15 to 44. This contrasts with the original pandemic experience when the highest number of positive swine flu cases occurred in children from five to 14.
This change is also reflected in figures for the Republic; the head of the HPSC confirmed yesterday that 15 to 64 year olds have the highest infectivity. And while details for the 114 people with flu requiring hospital admission here are not available, the UK figures show that most of those with serious illness or who have died had not availed of flu vaccination.
For those in at-risk groups, this is a wake-up call that it is not too late to be immunised with this season’s vaccine. Some 23 of the 39 people who have died in Britain had an underlying medical condition.
Symptoms of seasonal flu include sudden onset of fever, cough as well as sore throat, and aching muscles and joints. If you think you are coming down with flu, it is best to isolate yourself in bed. Drink plenty of fluids and take paracetamol to reduce your temperature. Most people will recover with self-care in about a week to 10 days after the onset of infection.
If you develop any of the following, seek medical advice: increasing difficulty breathing – for example being unable to complete a sentence; sharp chest pains that make it difficult to breathe or cough; thick yellow or green phlegm or brown or bloody phlegm; severe earache; uncharacteristic changes in behaviour such as becoming confused or appearing terrified (particularly in children); and being so drowsy as to have difficulty eating, drinking or talking.
SHELF LIFE: DRUG EXPIRY DATE
SOME PATIENTS with swine flu are being prescribed Tamiflu in boxes which suggest the antiviral is out of date.
A Castlebar woman who was prescribed the drug yesterday found an expiry date of June 2010 on the box. However the HSE, in a letter to pharmacists, has said the European Medicines Agency has extended the shelf life of the medicine by two years.
Therefore it can be used until June 2012 as long as it has been stored at below 25 degrees.
Dr Kevin Kelleher, head of health protection with the HSE, said there are sufficient antivirals in stock to treat one million people.
