Three cases of influenza A virus in the Eastern Health Board area have been identified by the Virus Reference Laboratory. The director of the laboratory, Prof William Hall, said this simply confirmed evidence of the virus in the population.
The three patients, he said, had symptoms consistent with influenza virus infection, and a sample was taken by their doctor and sent to the laboratory. In the past week, Prof Hall said, there had been many queries from the media concerning flu. However, there was little evidence of it affecting large numbers.
Work was continuing, he said, to establish the extent of the outbreak and the sub-type of the viruses. It is believed the strain will be similar to the Sydney strain of the virus which is currently affecting Britain. Prof Hall said isolating influenza type A was not unusual at this time of year. Those who had received the flu vaccine should be well protected. He said that, despite identifying the three cases, there was no way of knowing the overall number of people affected.
Part of the difficulty, he said, was that the laboratory did not receive many samples from GPs. "Doctors do not send samples. They make the diagnosis clinically. The fact we do not get samples means we have no idea of the epidemiology."
Those at greatest risk from the flu are the very young and the elderly, those with existing illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease and chronic bronchitis and those with inefficient immune systems. Serious complications may develop, including pneumonia. Most deaths occur among the elderly.