Swine flu epidemic could sweep region
A swine flu epidemic could sweep the region this autumn, affecting up to one in five people, an expert has claimed.
Dr Brian Keeble, consultant in public health medicine at NHS Suffolk, said about 20 per cent of people in the county could catch the bug, which has already been confirmed in 17 people.
Dr Keeble, flu co-ordinator for Suffolk, said: "The figures are moving reasonably rapidly at the moment.
"It looks like a lot more people will get swine flu than normal flu in winter because it's new and people are more susceptible to it."
A pupil at St Louis' Primary School, in Newmarket, was the latest victim of the contagious illness to be reported this week, as the total for the east of England topped 371 confirmed cases.
Dr Keeble predicted this would not be the last case of the H1N1 influenza strain in schools this year.
He said: "We have been quite lucky so far in that we haven't had cases in schools, but that has been changing over the past week so I expect we will see more cases.
"Swine flu seems to be particularly transmittable for children so, if you get a case in a school, the chances are it will be picked up by other children and they will spread it."
In a good year, around five per cent of the population will get normal flu in winter which rises to 15 per cent in a bad year.
But, based on patterns in Australia which is currently in its winter, Dr Keeble predicted swine flu figures could rise to 20 per cent this autumn.
But the medic said he was confident health services in the region would be able to cope with a possible epidemic if it spread.
Dr Keeble said: "I am much less worried about swine flu than I was two months ago because we know a lot more about it than we did then.
"We can make sure we prepare ourselves for what may come later in the year and I think the health services should be able to cope without too much trouble."
A spokeswoman for NHS Suffolk urged people to cover their noses and mouth when coughing or sneezing and to dispose of dirty tissues promptly to stem the spread of the disease.
She also advised good hand hygiene by washing hands with soap and water before eating.
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
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Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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Wind direction: East
