Another case of swine flu was confirmed in Northern Ireland today.
The latest case, the 19th in Northern Ireland, is a man who recently returned from London. He has been given antivirals and is recovering at home.
The Department of Health and Social Services in Belfast said there were another 13 potential cases under investigation in the region.
In the Republic Department of Health figures reported on Monday showed the number of confirmed cases of swine flu had almost doubled during the past two weeks.
There are now 23 confirmed cases of H1N1 in Ireland, four of which involved in-country transmission.
On June 11th, the day when the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised its pandemic flu alert to phase 6 on a six-point scale, indicating the first influenza pandemic since 1968, there were 12 confirmed cases here.
A “pandemic” simply means that there has been sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus in more than one region.
Chief medical officer at the Department of Health, Dr Tony Holohan, told The Irish Timesthat while there had been a rise in confirmed cases, the number of people who had contracted the flu remained at a low level.
“The majority of people who have contracted the virus have made a full recovery and those that haven’t yet are in the community.”
Dr Holohan said that while most cases had involved individuals who had recently returned from the US and Mexico, this probably reflected an older pattern of transmission.
The number of confirmed cases of H1N1 worldwide now totals 52,160 in more than 80 countries, and includes 231 deaths, according to the latest WHO figures. The first reported death from the virus in Asia was reported yesterday where a 49-year-old woman from Manila in the Philippines died from congestive heart failure after contracting the H1N1 virus.
Additional reporting PA
