United KingdomIndependent island country located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe
--------
The United Kingdom includes the nations of England, Scotland, Wales (those three making up "Great Britain") and Northern Ireland. In strict terms it does not include the associated Isle of Man and Channel Islands.
1,004 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the UK. The BBC reports [1] that this may be a considerable underestimate of the true figure. Several of these are examples of human-to-human transmission in the UK; several in schools, some of have been closed at times.
The UK Department of Health has published Pandemic flu: A national framework for responding to an influenza pandemic (Nov 2007: 144 pages of PDF, 1732K). The BBC hosts the NHS planning document for a flu pandemic in the UK. (Oct 2005: 177 pages of PDF, 568kB).
News[]
June 12[]
- 6PM: The BBC [2] reports that over 1,000 cases are now confirmed in the UK, while the HPA [3] reports thsat there are over 400 cases under investigation in England alone.
June 9[]
- 6PM: 9 further patients under investigation in England have today been confirmed with swine flu. Together with the 43 cases in Scotland announced yesterday (June 8 2009) by the Scottish Government this brings the current total number of confirmed UK cases to 675.
June 8[]
- 6PM: 29 further patients under investigation in England have today been confirmed with swine flu. Together with the 35 cases in Scotland announced yesterday (June 7 2009) by the Scottish Government this brings the current total number of confirmed UK cases to 621.
June 6[]
- 9PM: 19 further patients under investigation in England have today been confirmed with swine flu. Together with the 22 cases in Scotland announced yesterday by the Scottish Government and one case in Northern Ireland announced yesterday (Friday 05 June 2009) by the Northern Ireland Government this brings the current total number of confirmed UK cases to 528.
The BBC has reported [4] the estimate by Prof Hugh Pennington that the true figure may be considerably higher. The speculation is that the true figure is at least double the official reports.
June 5[]
- 9PM: The HPA has announced another 27 cases in England. Added onto the 31 cases in Scotland yesterday, it brings the UK confirmed cases to 486.
May 29[]
- 6PM: The latest HPA report[5] has announced another 12 cases, Ten are children, linked to the ongoing investigation of a school outbreak in Handsworth, Birmingham - the BBC has a more detailed report on this [6].
May 17[]
- 8PM: The HPA has reported [7] another 14 cases today, 2 new cases were reported yesterday. The number under investigation has dropped from 271 on the 15th to 155 today.
May 15[]
- 6PM: The HPA has reported [8] an additional 4 cases, with another 3 being reported in Scotland [9]. The BBC reports [10] that the UK government has signed a deal to secure up to 90 million doses of a new H1N1 flu vaccine by December.
May 14[]
- 8PM: The HPA has reported [11] seven more cases, including the first in Northern Ireland.
May 13[]
- 11PM: The HPA has reported [12] another 3 cases, added to 3 reported on the 12th.
May 11[]
- 7PM: The HPA has announced [13] the total number of cases to be 65 with 336 under investigation. At least two of the new cases were of onward transmission in the UK.
May 8[]
- 5PM: Following the announcement of two more cases on the 7th, another 5 cases have been reported today [14]. The BBC reports [15] that the four children and one adult are all linked to the same school - Alleyn's in Dulwich, south-east London.
May 6[]
- 9PM: The HPA has announced four more cases in England, and has lowered the accuracy of reporting to regions. All of these cases arein people who have recently visited Mexico [16].
May 5[]
- 6PM: The HPA has confirmed one further case in England. Leaflets are being distributed to every household with advice on avoiding transmitting flu [17]. The Guardian has published a map in PDF format showing the incidents of the virus [18].
May 4[]
- 6PM: The HPA reports a total of 27 cases within the UK, with several of the 9 new cases being onward transmission within the UK. Most of these have, so far, occured in schools, four of which are now closed [19].
May 3[]
- 7PM: The HPA has reported an additional 3 cases in the UK, two in the London area and another in Ayrshire. Both cases in England are of school age. One of these had close contact of a person who had recently returned from Mexico. The second had recently returned from the United States [20].
May 2[]
- 5PM: The current totals are 15 confirmed cases and 600 under investigation. Two of these are in people who had not visited Mexico, though the Health Protection Agency said those two cases did "not yet represent sustained human-to-human transmission". This is an important term in the WHO planning[21].
May 1[]
- 5PM: The Scottish Government has confirmed the first case of a person to contract swine flu from another infected person within the UK [22]. Another case has been confirmed on Merseyside by the HPA [23].
April 30[]
- 5PM: The HPA reports three new confirmed cases, two in London and one in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Many more cases are under investigation. All of the cases confirmed so far are in travellers from Mexico.
April 29[]
- 1PM: The BBC is reporting that there are 3 more cases of Swine Flu, all in those who have visited Mexico. They are also reporting that they understand that the contacts of the two Scottish cases have not contracted the new strain of H1N1.
April 28[]
- 6PM: The UK media are running a wide range of stories about what is to be expected. The HPA have published a treatment algorithm which indicates that they believe that only travellers from Mexico or America are likely to have the new form of H1N1 at the moment.
- 11AM: The FCO is now advising against all but essential travel to Mexico [24]. Several travel companies have cancelled flights to Mexico and are considering repatriating holiday makers [25].
April 27[]
- 6PM: Swine Flu has reached the UK with two cases in Scotland being confirmed as H1N1 - reported by the BBC [26]. Scottish Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that both individuals were recovering well in a Lanarkshire hospital from mild cases of the virus.
- 3PM: Chief Medical Officer for Wales Tony Jewell said: "The Welsh Assembly Government is liaising with the National Public Health Service, Health Protection Agency, the other UK countries and international colleagues to monitor the situation closely. We fully expect that there will be cases reported in Wales, and although it is natural for people to feel apprehensive, we reassure the public that we are working to prepare for the arrival of the virus, and have robust procedures in place... Further information including health advice on measures to prevent infection- such as regular hand washing- can be found at www.hpa.org.uk and www.nphs.wales.nhs.uk."
- Suspected case of Swine Flu being reported by Sky news in Manchester, being carried by a Canadian National visiting the UK.[27]
- The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office released its first Mexico travel advisory referring to the outbreak on the April 27.
- Two Scots are being held in isolation in a hospital, and are still awaiting test results for the Swine flu. They fell ill after returning from a holiday in Mexico. About 20 of their friends an family are being monitored [28]
- The UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) has taken up its role from this planning document and is reporting that it is effectively certain that the outbreak will reach the UK. This is clear from their advice to health care professionals. This document was written on the April 25 and released late on the 26th for the press to report on Monday 27th. Meanwhile, the tabloid newspapers are starting their more sensational reporting (eg The Daily Mail "Is swine flu already here?").
April 26[]
The BBC is reporting(6:22pm GMT April 26) on going tests on a number of possible cases.
Authorities[]
United Kingdom/info