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Swine flu is slowly but alarmingly spreading across the capital are we being told the whole truth of the scale of the virus?
News Desk
London has officially 528 cases of the "swine flu" virus according to the Health Protection Agency but the London Daily News believes the figures could be far higher.
One case that the London Daily News is aware of involves a businessman who travelled to Athens recently on a journey inside a tram came into contact with a "young man" who sneezed. Following the incident the businessman returned to London and gradually developed the symptoms of Swine Flu which include:
+ fever
+ cough
+ sore throat
+ runny or stuffy nose
+ body aches
+ headache
+ chills
+ fatigue
Some people also experience diarrhoea and vomiting.
Also, like seasonal flu:
+ the worst symptoms usually last about five days, but coughing can last up to two to three weeks
+ some very young children, people with some long-term medical conditions, pregnant women, and older people, can get very sick
+ in rare instances severe illness and death can occur.
The number of people with Swine Flu could be well over 1000, figures are being suppressed in order to avoid mass panic.
Health officials are trying to avoid mass panic over the Swine Flu but the recent officially confirmed cases include a healthcare worker from Royal Free hospital in Hampstead, north London, and an employee at Canary Wharf branch of Waitrose. Cases also occured at Bentworth Primary School when two pupils from the school tested positive.
Over the past months 13 primary school children from three schools were confirmed to have contracted the H1N1 virus.
The BBC also reported that two pupils at Brentworth Primary School in west London tested positive for the flu.
Eight Year Six students and a teacher from Immanuel and St Andrew Church of England Primary School in Streatham fell ill after a trip to Surrey.
In England there have been 2905 confirmed swine flu cases through laboratory testing, there have also been a further 1,481 'clinically presumed' cases.
PulseToday.co.uk has reported that “GPs in London and some parts of Birmingham have been told to switch to clinical assessment of swine flu patients. An HPA London spokesperson said: 'London has moved to that approach now, so GPs are able to use clinical assessment to determine who needs to be treated, and give a prescription to those people. GPs will also be swabbing patients but it’s likely not everyone will be swabbed.”
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