The number of human swine flu cases presenting to GPs is falling, the Department of Health reported today.
However, it warned the figure is expected to increase again in the coming months.
In the seven days up to last Sunday, the incidence of the H1N1 virus was 32.5 cases per 100,000 of population, the equivalent of some 1,400 cases nationally.
Deputy chief medical officer Dr John Devlin said the number of cases of the virus had "stabilised" following an almost three-fold increase from 12.5 to 37 cases per 100,000 the previous week.
"I must say that we do expect the number in the community and in hospitals to rise again," he said during a briefing on swine flu at Government Buildings this evening.
Dr Devlin said the current rate of infection was well below that recorded during an outbreak of common flu in January of this year, which showed an incidence of 120 cases per 100,000 of the population.
Dr Devlin said that 70 per cent of those who had contracted the H1N1 virus were under 30 and that an increase in the level of in country transmission, rather than people contracting it while travelling, had resulted in around 15 localised outbreaks of the virus nationwide. He said more than half all those hospitalised have underlying illnesses.
Dr Devlin said that, to date, 27 people in Ireland had been hospitalised by the virus and that three of these people been treated in intensive care units. He said two patients remained in intensive care with the virus but that he could not comment on their condition because of patient confidentiality regulations.
Gavin Maguire, the assistant head of emergency planning in the Health Service Executive (HSE), said significant volumes of the swine flu vaccine would not arrive in Ireland until the end of September or early October.
Mr Maguire said the HSE was in regular contact with the companies it has contracted to provide vaccines, but that "as of now we don't actually have a delivery schedule".
In total, 7.7 million vaccines will be bought from three foreign pharmaceutical companies – GlaxoSmith-Kline, Baxter Healthcare and Allphar Services – at a combined cost of about €80 million.
Dr Darina O'Flanagan of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre said it was impossible to predict how many cases of the virus might occur in Ireland but that a more dramatic wave of the virus could be expected in winter.
Dr Devlin said the State's vaccination immunisation plans were "well advanced" and that the Department of Health's prime concerns were the safety of the vaccine and the safety of those who will receive it.
