Swine flu continues to rise

Health chiefs from NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale are reassuring local residents not to worry and keep following recommended hygiene procedures, as the level of swine flu across the country rises.

Although the NHS is no longer able to confirm exact cases of swine flu, the number of cases being diagnosed by doctors has increased, with more patients requiring antiviral medication.

“The whole country has experienced a massive increase in the number of people with symptoms of swine flu and we are seeing increased levels locally,” said Dr Sheila Will, director of public health at NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale. 

“People are understandably anxious as pandemics don’t happen very often but flu circulates every winter and this is no different- it just affects more people than normal winter flu does and is happening in the summer.

“Most people who catch swine flu experience a relatively mild illness over three to five days and recover by themselves.”
The advice for people who have flu symptoms is to stay home, rest, drink plenty of fluids and take paracetamol to lower temperature and ease aches and pains.

Anyone who doesn’t feel better after two or three days, whose symptoms worsen, or who has other health conditions such as heart disease, respiratory problems, or asthma, or anyone who is pregnant, should contact their doctor by phone for advice.

Important precautions for everyone to take include regular hand washing, covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, throwing away tissues straight away and cleaning hard surfaces like door handles and worktops with normal cleaning products.

“If you do have symptoms there’s no need to go to your doctor’s surgery, walk in centre or A&E,” added Sheila. “You need to stay at home to rest and recover. This also avoids spreading the virus in the community to those who are more vulnerable to the effects of the virus.”

Dr Will also urges patients not to collect their own medication: “If you are prescribed with antiviral medication please don’t go to collect it yourself. Instead ask a friend or relative to be your ‘flu friend’ and go to collect it for you. Just dropping off medicines for someone with flu won’t mean you’ll catch it.”

The Government has announced that it will be launching a National Pandemic Flu Service this week. This means that a dedicated website and call centre will be able to quickly tell patients if they have swine flu. If they do, they will be given an authorisation number which a flu friend can use to pick up antivirals from a local antiviral collection point.