Two further swine flu cases

Published Monday, 06 July 2009
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Two more men in Northern Ireland have contracted swine flu after foreign travel, the Department of Health confirmed.

The victims are recovering well at home. They were in Canada and Ibiza. It brings to 45 the total number of cases.

The routine testing of people with suspected swine flu is being scrapped together with the tracing of close contacts of those with symptoms.

The change was announced by Health Minister Michael McGimpsey.

Antivirals will also no longer be used as a preventative measure against swine flu, said the minister.

He predicted last week a third of the population - some 600,000 people - are likely to get swine flu in the months ahead.

The change of policy was confirmed following a meeting of the UK's Health Ministers at the Government Cobra Committee in London.

Mr McGimpsey said Northern Ireland along with the rest of the UK was now moving to a "treatment phase" to deal with the pandemic.

The move means that in the province there will be a step by step treatment approach, giving clinicians discretion on how best to treat a patient with swine flu.

People who contract swine flu will still be offered antivirals, but they are no longer being used as a preventative measure.

The minister said health ministers across all four administrations had noted clear scientific advice that the majority of cases of swine flu in the UK had not been severe and that the majority had generally made a full and rapid recovery.

© UTV News
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