UK moves from swine flu 'containment' to 'treatment'

The UK has moved from the 'containment' to the 'treatment' phase of swine flu as the number of people catching swine flu continues to rise.

'Containment' to 'treatment'
As Swine Flu spreads and more people start to catch it in their communities, the government has moved from efforts to contain the virus to treating the increasing number of people who have the disease.

The move from containment to treatment will apply in all four nations of the UK- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This means that:

GPs will be able to diagnose swine flu on the basis of symptoms rather than waiting for laboratory testing

all tracing of people who have been in contact with a sufferer will stop

people who may have been exposed to the virus will not be given anti-viral drugs

anyone who is diagnosed with swine flu will continue to be offered anti-virals until further notice
Local primary care trusts will also begin to establish anti-viral collection points in their local communities. These could be at a designated pharmacy or a community centre, depending on local need.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said:"Most cases of swine flu have not been severe and we are in a strong position to deal with this pandemic.

"But we must not become complacent and, while doubt remains about the way the virus attacks different groups, today's decision on the move to the treatment phase reflects our caution."

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What can I do to protect myself and my family?

Good hygiene is the key. You can reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of catching or spreading influenza by:

Using a tissue to cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing.
Disposing of used tissues promptly and carefully.
Maintaining good basic hygiene, for example washing your hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to your face, or to other people.
Cleaning hard surfaces (eg kitchen worktops, door handles) frequently using a normal cleaning product.

What is the current state of alert?

The swine flu alert level from the World Health Organization (WHO) remains at Phase Five, which means there is human-to-human spread of the virus in at least two countries in the same region. Phase Five is a strong signal that "a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalise the organisation, communication, and implementation of planned mitigation measures is short," says the WHO. This is something that is already well under way in the UK.

As further information becomes available, WHO may decide to either revert to Phase Four or raise the level of alert to Phase Six, the highest level. The decision to move to Phase Five was based primarily on data demonstrating sustainable human-to-human transmission of the virus.

The WHO has defined six stages in the development of a pandemic. A virus outbreak is only classified as a pandemic at Phase Six.

Countries with confirmed cases of swine flu

Mexico: 1626 (45 deaths)
US: 2254 (2 deaths)
Canada: 280 (1 death)
Spain: 93
UK: 55
France: 12
Germany: 11
Italy: 9
Costa Rica: 8 (1 death)
Israel: 7
New Zealand: 7
Brazil: 6
Japan: 4
Republic of Korea: 3
Netherlands: 3
Panama: 3
El Salvador: 2
Argentina: 1
Austria: 1
Australia: 1
Sweden: 1
Denmark: 1
Colombia: 1
Switzerland: 1
Hong Kong: 1
Ireland: 1
Portugal: 1
Guatemala: 1
Poland: 1

Background

The swine flu is likely a descendant of the infamous "Spanish flu"[citation needed]that caused a devastating pandemic in humans in 1918–1919. In less than a year, that pandemic killed more an estimated 50 million people worldwide. Descendants of this virus have persisted in pigs; they probably circulated in humans until the appearance of the Asian flu in 1957, and reemerged in 1977.Direct transmission from pigs to humans is rare, with 12 cases in the U.S. since 2005.

The flu virus is perhaps the trickiest known to medical science; it constantly changes form to elude the protective antibodies that the body has developed in response to previous exposures to influenza or to influenza vaccines. Every two or three years the virus undergoes minor changes. Then, at intervals of roughly a decade, after the bulk of the world's population has developed some level of resistance to these minor changes, it undergoes a major shift that enables it to tear off on yet another pandemic sweep around the world, infecting hundreds of millions of people who suddenly find their antibody defenses outflanked.Even during the Spanish flu pandemic, the initial wave of the disease was relatively mild and the second wave was highly lethal.

In 1957, an Asian flu pandemic infected some 45 million Americans and killed 70,000. Eleven years later, lasting from 1968 to 1969, the Hong Kong flu pandemic afflicted 50 million Americans and caused 33,000 deaths, costing approximately $3.9 billion. In 1976, about 500 soldiers became infected with swine flu over a period of a few weeks. However, by the end of the month investigators found that the virus had "mysteriously disappeared" and there were no more signs of swine flu anywhere on the post. There were isolated cases around the U.S. but those cases were supposedly to individuals who caught the virus from pigs.

Medical researchers worldwide, recognizing that the swine flu virus might again mutate into something as deadly as the Spanish flu, were carefully watching the latest 2009 outbreak of swine flu and making contingency plans for a possible global pandemic.