Chief Medical Officer For Wales Statement On Swine Flu

Main Category: Swine Flu
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS;  Public Health;  Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 28 Apr 2009 - 7:00 PDT

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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. As recently as last week, a successful Wales-wide exercise was held to rehearse for an outbreak of this nature, and we are well placed to deal with its effects.

"I have already contacted health professionals to remind them of the correct procedures of dealing with a flu outbreak to ensure they are adhered to.

Further information on Swine Flu

See a Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
See our Mexico Swine Flu Blog
"Further information including health advice on measures to prevent infection- such as regular hand washing- can be found at http://www.hpa.org.uk and http://www.nphs.wales.nhs.uk."

Background

- The level of the swine flu outbreak is currently at World Health Organisation Phase Three. Phase three is defined as: an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks. Limited human-to-human transmission may occur under some circumstances, for example, when there is close contact between an infected person and an unprotected caregiver. However, limited transmission under such restricted circumstances does not indicate that the virus has gained the level of transmissibility among humans necessary to cause a pandemic.

- Symptoms of swine influenza are similar to those of seasonal influenza, usually a feverish illness accompanied by one or more of cough, sore throat, headache and muscle aches. For most people this illness appears to be mild. Infection with this virus is treatable with the anti-viral drugs, of which we have enough stock to treat any people we expect to contract this infection.

- How to help prevent the spread of the virus: cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue when possible. disposing of dirty tissues promptly and carefully, maintain good basic hygiene, for example washing hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to face or to other people, clean hard surfaces (e.g. door handles) frequently using a normal cleaning product, make sure your children follow this advice.

Source
Welsh Assembly Government