Britain revamps swine flu strategy to handle 100,000 new cases a day by end of August
By Joshuah at 4 July, 2009, 8:16 am
Britain faces a projected 100,000 new swine flu cases a day by the end of August and must revamp its flu strategy, the nation’s health minister said Thursday.
Britain has officially reported 7,447 swine flu cases and three deaths, but officials acknowledge the real number of cases is far higher, since many with the virus have not been tested.
Britain is the hardest-hit nation in Europe amid the global swine flu epidemic. Many flu experts believe numbers could jump exponentially now that the virus is entrenched. Because swine flu, or H1N1, is a new virus, few people have any natural immunity, allowing the virus to spread rapidly.
“Cases are doubling every week and on this trend we could see over 100,000 cases per day by the end of August,” Health Minister Andy Burnham told the House of Commons on Thursday.
Britain has been reporting several hundred new swine flu cases daily for the last several weeks. If that surges to 100,000 cases a day by the end of August, there could be 6 million people infected by the fall, or 10 per cent of Britain’s 60 million population.
Source/Full Story: MSN News
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