Patients heeding swine flu advice

HEALTH chiefs have thanked Oldhamers for their response to swine flu as the number of cases continues to fall.

Alan Higgins, Director of public health for Oldham, said: “The response from local people has been tremendous.

“We’re now seeing a drop in the number of cases, but at the beginning of July we were facing a very sharp increase in the number of people contacting their GPs with flu-like symptoms.

“We had serious concerns that the number of people turning up at our local hospitals and GP surgeries would continue to go up, putting real pressure on NHS services and spreading the virus further.”

Latest figures for the North-West show that although there was an increase in NHS activity, this has begun to fall off as people act on national advice to use the National Pandemic Flu Service.

The public are warned they need to continue to be vigilant for other illnesses that may start with flu-like symptoms.

Mr Higgins added: “We always knew when we were working on our plans to manage a possible pandemic that co-operation from the public was crucial. It is clear that people are listening to the messages and using NHS services sensibly.

“The National Pandemic Flu Service will prescribe anti-viral medication for anyone diagnosed as having swine flu. If you contact the national flu service or your GP and are diagnosed with swine flu, but continue to have concerns, it is important to review your symptoms with your GP. This is particularly important if the person concerned is a child, is pregnant, or has an underlying health problem.”

Some of the symptoms are the sudden onset of fever, cough or shortness of breath, headache, sore throat, tiredness, aching muscles, chills, sneezing, runny nose or a loss of appetite.

People with chronic lung, kidney or heart disease, under fives, over 65s and pregnant women should contact their usual GP service as soon as they have symptoms. Parents with children under one year should call their GP if their child has symptoms as soon as possible.

Anyone who thinks they may have contracted the swine flu virus can contact the National Pandemic Flu Service on-line at www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu  on call 0800 1 513 513 for information or 0800 1 513 100 for treatment.