confirmed victim, NHS didn't give the right info. NHS had failed to
give antiviral treatment to him because he is thought to have been
exposed for less than an hour with a probable case.
That probable case turned out to be tested negative and yet the victim
is confirmed a Swine Flu victim.
The only way to control this outbreak is to give antiviral to all
contacts within 2 m with a probable, even for a few seconds, when the
probable coughs in his presence.
Surprise, surprise. This Swine Flu is spread just like normal flu and
it does not need an hour's exposure to do that. How on earth doctors
can make a conclusion that it requires an hour's expose to get
infected with normal flu.
Fortunately, based on the Mexico's case, those who show symptoms for
an average of 3 days before being treated with Tamilflu and Relenza
survived, but I believe these are for strong adults. Children and old
folks will certainly be more vulnerable.
Two people catch swine flu inside UK
Cases rise to 13 as health officials wait for results of more than 600
tests
* Severin Carrell, John Carvel and Damien Pearse
* guardian.co.uk, Saturday 2 May 2009 13.57 BST
* Article history
Health officials are awaiting the results of more than 600 tests for
swine flu in the UK after it was confirmed two people have caught the
virus while inside Britain.
The total number of confirmed cases in the UK stands at 13. The Health
Protection Agency (HPA) said two people catching the virus inside the
country did not represent "sustained human-to-human transmission".
Graeme Pacitti Graeme Pacitti, right, is said to have caught swine flu
from Iain Askham, left. Photograph: PA
Graeme Pacitti, a clerical worker at Falkirk Royal Infirmary, and
Barry Greatorex, 43, a freight project manager from Chipping Sodbury,
are the first confirmed cases among people who had not visited Mexico.
Pacitti is thought to have become infected after a night out with Iain
Askham, a football team-mate who contracted the virus on his honeymoon
in Cancún, Mexico.
Sir Liam Donaldson, the government's chief medical adviser, said: "The
first non-imported cases of swine flu have been confirmed in England
and Scotland. The infection appears to have been acquired by person-to-
person spread within the United Kingdom.
"Until now cases were confined to people who had recently come back
from Mexico. The person in the south-west is being treated with
Tamiflu."
Today, Greatorex said that he was recovering well and that his family
showed no symptoms of swine flu.
"I am showing signs of improvement but I have never been through
anything like this before; the first two or three days were pretty
horrible," he said.
"It is very scary to be told you have swine flu after hearing about it
on the news."
A 12-year-old girl was among five new cases, and her illness prompted
the immediate closure of her school in south Gloucestershire. The
pupil at Downend school was on the same flight as Askham and his wife,
Dawn.
Government scientists who are studying the virus said early analysis
showed it was likely to cause only a mild epidemic, probably no worse
than a normal flu season. Biologists at the National Institute for
Medical Research in London said antiviral medicines such as Tamiflu
would probably control its spread.
Pacitti, 24, was the 10th confirmed case of swine flu in the UK, while
earlier yesterday a Merseyside woman who had recently returned from
Mexico was confirmed as the ninth.
Referring to Pacitti, the Scottish health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon,
said: "This is significant as it represents the first case in the UK
of person-to-person transmission of this virus. The person … hadn't
been in Mexico or any other affected area. He had been in contact with
someone who had.
"I want to stress, however, that it doesn't mean that there is more
reason to worry. We're working hard to try to disrupt this infection
and stop it spreading."
The HPA said: "We are working to ensure that any close contacts of
patients who test positive for swine influenza are offered antivirals
as a precautionary measure. At this stage close contacts who should be
offered antivirals [are those] who have been exposed to a probable or
confirmed case within the previous seven days for longer than one hour
and within a distance of one metre."
The agency advised people returning from affected areas in Mexico who
become unwell within seven days of their return to stay at home and
contact their GP by phone or ring NHS Direct.
The agency said it was aware of headteachers and governors
considering temporary closure of schools as a precaution when
suspected cases of infection were still under investigation but had
yet to be confirmed. But it advised these measures only when a case is
strongly suspected or confirmed within a school.
Earlier yesterday Gordon Brown offered reassurance that Britain was
well placed to deal with the outbreak. On a visit to an NHS Direct
call centre in Beckenham, south-east London, he said the advice line
was coping well with demand.
The government was increasing the number of face masks available to
the NHS and looking at different vaccines, while stressing that the
Tamiflu antiviral drug would deal with the disease.
Brown added: "This is happening in every country of the world, but we
are better prepared. If people have the symptoms they should ask for
advice as quickly as possible.
"We are finding with NHS Direct that they can both reassure people and
give people advice about where to go. This is a system that's working,
it's calm, it's ordered, it's giving people the right information."
Brown said all the cases in the UK were mild.
Italy confirmed its first case of swine flu today while the
Netherlands, France and Switzerland reported their first cases
yesterday, bringing the total number of countries affected to 15.
Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, has revised down the suspected
death toll from 176 to 101.
The other countries affected are the United States, Canada, New
Zealand, Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria.
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