Health chiefs have urged people to take up the flu vaccine after it emerged that the swine flu virus which swept the country last year has claimed the lives of 10 adults in the UK in the past six weeks.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed that the deaths were in younger adults under 65 and associated with H1N1 swine flu.
Most had underlying conditions but “a small proportion” were healthy before contracting the virus, a spokeswoman said.
The deaths came against a background of a low rate of doctor visits. GP consultations for flu-like illness in England were 13.3 per 100,000 population last week.
Swine flu
Professor John Watson, head of respiratory diseases department at the HPA, said: “Over the last few weeks we have seen a rise in the number of cases of seasonal flu, including both H1N1 (2009) and flu B, in the community. We have also received reports of patients with serious illness requiring hospitalisation and outbreaks of flu in schools across the country.
“For most people, flu is not life threatening and usually lasts seven to 10 days. However, it can be far more dangerous for those in at-risk groups, such as the elderly, pregnant women and patients with heart problems, diabetes or lung, liver or renal diseases, or those who have weak immune systems who are at risk of developing complications.
“Flu vaccination offers the best protection for those at high risk from seasonal influenza. If you are in an at-risk group and you haven’t had your jab, we recommend you make an appointment with your GP or medical practitioner now.
“Although unpleasant, flu is a self-limiting illness and if you have flu it is best to stay at home until well. If individuals in at-risk groups develop symptoms consistent with flu or if anyone whose symptoms persist or become more severe then we advise they seek medical advice.”
Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said: “These figures demonstrate that the effects of flu are not to be underestimated. It is not the same as getting a cold and can seriously affect your health.
“The seasonal flu jab protects against the dominant strains – this year it protects against three types of flu, including the type known as swine flu.”
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Up to two million people in Scotland may have been infected with swine flu, scientists have estimated.
The swine flu outbreak of winter 2009-2010 was much more widespread than previously realised, according to the research by Edinburgh University.
Blood taken from Scots at the end of the H1N1 flu season showed almost half were carrying antibodies to the virus.
Most of the 44% who tested positive had contracted swine flu although some had acquired immunity from a previous flu.
The research suggested that many cases of swine flu went unreported as people did not attend hospital due to mild symptoms.
Only 100,000 people consulted their GP about flu, out of about two million who the study estimated could have contracted the virus.
People living in the most deprived areas were twice as likely to have contracted the virus, according to the study.
Almost 1,600 adults from the east of Scotland and Glasgow took part in the study.
The research, carried out with the help of Strathclyde University, Health Protection Scotland and West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre, was funded by the Chief Scientist Office and published in the journal PLoS One.
Professor Mark Woolhouse of Edinburgh University’s centre for infectious diseases, who led the study, said: “This flu spread very quickly.
“Fortunately most cases were mild but this also means that they weren’t reported.”
He said that if there was a way to test people to see if they were already carrying immunity naturally it would mean there would not be such a drain on flu vaccinations in the future.
The Government spent £239 million on swine flu vaccine, official figures reveal.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ordered the Department of Health to release the data after it failed to comply with a freedom of information (FOI) request.
The Government has always cited commercial confidentiality as a reason for not disclosing the information, but the ICO ruled it was in the public interest.
Today, the department confirmed it had spent £239 million on the jab up to the end of vaccine deliveries in April 2010.
The money was paid to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for its Pandemrix vaccine, and Baxter for Celvapan.
Some 90 million doses were ordered by the UK government, with most of the vaccine supplied by GSK.
In April 2010, the Government announced it had struck a deal with GSK to cancel part of its massive order for the vaccine.
The deal saved the UK approximately one third of the original value of the orders with GSK.
However, there were still many leftover doses. Some of these have been used this flu season after stocks of the seasonal flu jab ran low.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said today: “The Department has released this information in order to comply with the (ICO) decision notice.
“We have gone further than the original request by giving the full information on spend in the interests of transparency and in view of the public interest in this issue.
“We will continue to consider each FOI case on its merits.”
The costs relate to the development, distribution, promotion and purchasing of the vaccine, although the department has not been told to disclose how much was paid to each individual company.
In its ruling earlier this year, the ICO said that while the majority of the original FOI request was complied with, the department “failed to provide information around the costs of purchasing the vaccine believing that the information would prejudice the commercial interests of the manufacturers, along with its own commercial interests, and those of other NHS bodies”.
However, the commissioner ruled the department should release the purchasing costs because it was in the interests of transparency over public spending.
ICO head of policy delivery Steve Wood said at the time: “The Department of Health must be transparent about the spending of public money at a time when public finances are under considerable scrutiny.
“The information also relates to a public health issue of significant interest to the general public.
“We are however mindful that the manufacturers involved should not be penalised for working in partnership with the NHS and have therefore agreed that the Department was right to withhold information providing a detailed breakdown of the costs associated with both GSK and Baxter.”
A government-sponsored study has shown that a standard dose of H1N1 influenza vaccine appears to work well in people who have asthma, but older patients with severe asthma may need a higher dose.
H1N1 influenza vaccine in people with asthma indicates that a single dose of vaccine was safe and induced a strong immune response predictive of protection.
The findings also suggest that individuals over the age of 60 who have severe asthma may require a larger dose of vaccine.
“The results of this clinical trial show that the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine was safe and led to adequate production of antibodies thought to be protective against the virus,” NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci said.
In late 2009, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases /NIH rapidly designed and sponsored a clinical study to determine the dose and number of doses of the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine needed to safely produce a protective immune response in people with asthma.
In these trials, a single dose of the vaccine containing 15 micrograms of the influenza hemagglutinin molecule-the main target of the protective antibody response-was found to be well tolerated and induced a strong immune response in most participants.
The study enrolled 390 people aged 12 to 79 years with asthma.
Half of the participants in each group received a 15-microgram dose of vaccine, and the other half received a 30-microgram dose, both by injection.
Three weeks later, each participant received a second dose in the same amount as the first dose. The vaccine, manufactured by Novartis by methods used to prepare each year’s seasonal vaccine, contained inactivated 2009 H1N1 influenza virus and therefore could not cause influenza infection.
The investigators measured the level of antibodies against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus in participants’ blood samples, which were taken three weeks after each injection, to assess the strength of the immune response.
In participants with mild to moderate asthma, and in most participants with severe asthma, a single 15-microgram dose was sufficient to induce a presumably protective immune response.
Participants older than age 60 with severe asthma had diminished immune responses to the 15-microgram dose of vaccine, but the 30-microgram dose gave an adequate response.
The findings appeared online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Swine flu has hit Britain again with 10 people dying in the past six weeks.
Several others are seriously ill in hospital and officials fear the virus is spreading.
Of the 10 who died – all adults under 65 – most had underlying health problems.
Half had been given the flu vaccine which included protection against H1N1.
The Health Protection Agency has warned that flu activity is “increasing”.
There have been 31 outbreaks since October – including eight in schools and one at a military base.
Experts believe the country is better prepared this year, but the Department of Health said yesterday: “It is vital we don’t underestimate this.”
Since emerging in Mexico last year, the virus has killed more than 15,000 with mums-to-be particularly at risk.
A man is in intensive care in a Merseyside hospital with swine flu.
The man is at Southport and Formby District General Hospital but is expected to be transferred to another hospital for specialist treatment.
A spokesman for the Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust said it had admitted a number patients since mid-October with the H1N1 virus.
Doctors have said the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying medical conditions should have a flu jab.
Angela Kelly, deputy director of nursing at the trust, said: “It is quite common for the trust to treat patients for flu around this time of year.
‘Safe vaccine’
“For the majority of people flu is an unpleasant illness, but in others it can be much more serious.”
Dr Vin Bothra, from the Health Protection Agency in the North West, said there were some “unfounded fears” about the safety of the flu vaccine.
“While in the vast majority of people, the flu illness can be a short sharp though unpleasant illness, for some it can be very serious, leading to admissions in hospital, critical care and also death,” he said.
“We have a safe and extremely effective vaccine and would urge people to use this opportunity to discuss it with their family doctor and to go and get one if they haven’t already.”