How well are we managing the influenza A/H1N1 pandemic in the UK?

doi:10.1136/bmj.b2897

Published 15 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2897
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2897

Editorials

How well are we managing the influenza A/H1N1 pandemic in the UK?

Pretty well, and it has served as an important rehearsal fora more lethal pandemic

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

News headlines this week have certainly raised anxiety overthe influenza A/H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic in the United Kingdom,with reports of 17 deaths to date since the national epidemicstarted in late April, and one of the dead being a 6 year oldgirl with apparently no pre-existing medical conditions. NHSDirect telephone lines have been swamped in recent days as theepidemic continues to expand and mortality rises.

How serious is the UK epidemic, and what are the likely trendsover the coming months as autumn arrives? General practice consultationrates in England for patients presenting with flu-like illnesshave increased and are now above the threshold for normal seasonalflu activity. The 5-14 year olds remain the age group predominantlyaffected, with London and the West Midlands being the worstaffected regions. Mortality among clinical cases with confirmedinfluenza A/H1N1 infection is currently between 1 per 200 . . . [Full text of this article]

Roy M Anderson, Rector of Imperial College London and Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology

¹ Faculty Building, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ

roy.anderson@imperial.ac.uk

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