UK:
Swine flu cases continue to fall
18 December, 2009
http://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-in-nursing/swine-flu/swine-flu-cases-continue-to-fall/5009825.article?referrer=RSS
The latest swine flu figures have revealed a slight drop in the number of new cases in England last week.
An estimated 9,000 new cases of swine flu were confirmed last week, down from 11,000 the week before.
The Government’s chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said good planning by the NHS prior to the onset of the virus has meant that the number of cases has been generally lower than forecast, adding that the UK had been “lucky”.
Sir Liam, who announced his resignation earlier this week, said the Government’s pandemic flu plans had worked ‘extremely well’ despite fears that the NHS would become overwhelmed by the virus.
He said the country had been able to “fight for every life”’ when it came to dealing with swine flu and, if just one family had been spared the loss of a child or another family member at Christmas, then that was a reason for throwing his hat up in the air.
The number of people who have died from the virus in the UK currently stands at 298, up from 283 in the previous week, while the number of patients admitted to hospital with the virus has fallen from 636 to 523.
India’s swine flu toll touches 769, over 23,000 affected
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health1/indias-swine-flu-toll-touches-769-over-23000-affected-lead_100291533.html
December 18th, 2009
Ten swine flu deaths, including two in the national capital, were reported Friday, taking the total toll in India to 769, health authorities said here.
Also, a record 364 new cases were reported in the country, taking the total number of people affected with the virus to 23,182.
Four deaths were reported from Punjab, taking the total number of people who have died due to the contagious virus in the state to 18.
With the two deaths in the national capital, the deaths have climbed to 54, union health ministry officials said here.
Two deaths were also reported from Haryana, taking the toll to 26. One death each was reported from Maharashtra, which records the highest number of fatalities in the country, and Rajasthan.
In Maharashtra, 248 people have died due to the flu, while the figure has touched 105 in Rajasthan.
“Three deaths, including two in Delhi, have been reported during the day,” said a statement issued here.
Delhi reported 214 new cases of infection Friday, taking the cumulative infection figure to 8,156 so far.
“The capital reported 214 fresh swine flu cases. Of the 214 new cases, 107 were children,” Anjana Prakash, additional nodal officer handling swine flu cases in Delhi, told IANS.
Of the total 8,156 swine flu cases, 4,777 are children, she said.
“Till date, samples from 101,858 persons have been tested for Influenza A (H1N1) in government laboratories and a few private Laboratories across the country and 23182 of them have been found positive,” the statement said here.
New cases were also reported from Rajasthan (43), Uttar Pradesh (30), Chandigarh (27), Haryana (10) and Karnataka (2).