Published 23 June 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2565
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2565

News

UK swine flu cases near 3000, as GP leader says use of Tamiflu may need to be rethought

Adrian O’Dowd

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The United Kingdom may need to rethink its strategy on use of the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) to treat swine flu, a BMA official has said, as the UK’s number of cases is rising faster than in most of the rest of the world.

The number of confirmed cases of A/H1N1 infection in the UK rose from 1752 on Thursday 18 June to 2773 on the following Monday (as the BMJ went to press), says the Health Protection Agency. This was the third biggest jump around the world, which now has 52 427 confirmed cases, the World Health Organization reported, including 231 deaths. In Mexico, where the first major outbreak occurred, no new cases were reported over the weekend.

GPs in the UK may now be starting to deal with the problem differently, said Peter Holden, the BMA’s lead on pandemic flu and a negotiator for the General Practitioners Committee.

. . . [Full text of this article]


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