Britain became the second European country hit by swine flu after two cases were confirmed late Monday in Scotland. It followed an earlier announcement that the virus had already been identified in Spain. By Tuesday evening, eight countries had confirmed the arrival of the virus.
There are about 40 people still under observation in the UK, and the government said it was well prepared after planning for such a pandemic for several years.
Five years' preparation
Addressing the House of Commons early Monday, the British Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, said that “the UK has been preparing for a flu pandemic for five years.”
“The World Health Organisation has recognised that the UK and France are the two best prepared countries in the world,” he said.
Britain has a stockpile of enough anti-virals to treat more than 33 million people, half the population of the country, said Johnson.
“All National Health Service (NHS) organisations have pandemic flu plans in place and the Department of Health is now working closely with the NHS to ensure that these plans can be put into action ,so that anti-virals can be made available to the public very rapidly should we reach that stage,” he said.
Over the weekend, the Government has been putting in place precautionary measures to implement the plans we have been developing in the case of more widespread infections in the UK, added Johnson.
The health chief said he would be convening a meeting of the Civil Contingencies Committee immediately following the statement.
Britain has enhanced its port health checks so that passengers arriving in the UK with symptoms of illness are identified and assessed, he said.
Information was also being made available to passengers arriving at ports and urgent advice has been offered to doctors, the health secretary said.
“Although we are aware that facemasks are being given out to the public in Mexico, the available scientific evidence does not support the general wearing of facemasks by those who are not ill whilst going about their normal activities,” he said.
“We are, however, urgently looking into how we can increase our stockpiles of facemasks for healthcare workers who are treating sick patients. We have also established infection control guidance to support staff when treating or caring for people who have symptoms,” he added.
“Should the virus start spreading widely in the UK, we propose to use our antiviral stockpile for treatment of symptomatic patients, ” he said.
He said that experts were currently examining whether vaccination with the regular, seasonal flu vaccine could in any way boost immunity to the H1N1 strain, and said Britain was considering how best to use the limited stocks that are currently available within the country.
While the development of a vaccine can only start once the new virus has been identified, the UK has agreements with manufacturers to be able to get a vaccine when it becomes available, according to the National Health Service (NHS).
The NHS explains why vaccination cannot prevent the start of a pandemic. “The government is unable to vaccinate the population against the spread of pandemic flu because a vaccine cannot be made in advance of the virus being identified,” it says.
“As the virus will be a new strain, a vaccine must be developed specifically to match this,” it adds, “It is unlikely to be available during the early stages of the pandemic and will take months to produce, and considerably longer to produce in sufficient quantities to treat the entire population.”
To combat pandemic flu, the NHS has advised people to wash their hands regularly with soap and water, always carry tissues, use tissues to cover mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and dispose of them properly. This suggestion was briefly promoted as “catch it, bin it and kill it.”
Flu scare hits markets
In line with advice from the WHO, there are currently no travel restrictions in Britain on those who are planning to visit affected areas. However, EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou suggested people avoid travelling to Mexico and the U.S.
Fears that the virus scare will hit the global economy, especially the travel and leisure sectors, has already sent global stock markets down.
On Monday, the travel sector was particularly hard hit. British Airways saw its stocks fall by some 7.75 percent while British travel agent Thomas Cook sank 4.4 percent.
Meanwhile, there was some good news on the markets with pharmaceutical giants Roche, Glaxosmithkline and AstraZenica all climbing significantly.
In particular, the British company Glaxosmithkline soared over 6 percent on Monday. Both Roche and Glaxosmithkline produce anti-virals which are considered to be effective in fighting the H1N1 virus.
Copyright Dongying Wang
Photo by Esparta
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