Westcountry is named as swine flu 'hot spot'

THE Westcountry is one of the country's hot spots for swine flu.

The Government's chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson yesterday revealed the "top 10" hot spots at his weekly briefing into the pandemic.

It showed Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly had the second-highest rate of swine flu-related consultations at 34.2 per 100,000 people.

Plymouth was ninth highest at 26.7 per 100,000 people – ahead of Manchester at 26.1. Southampton topped the league with 36.5 per 100,000 people.

Health officials are still urging people to keep away from hospitals and GP surgeries if they think they have swine flu. Instead they should contact the helpline on 0800 1 513 100.

The figures were released as estimates of the number of people in the UK who could die in the pandemic were revised downwards to 19,000, from 65,000 reported in July.

Other figures showed there were an estimated 4,500 people newly diagnosed with swine flu in England in the last week.

This is a slight drop on the 5,000 cases reported in the previous week and down from a high of around 100,000 cases more than a month ago.

The number of deaths in England linked to the virus stands at 61, up from 57 last week.

A pilot study of a swine flu vaccine revealed a "strong immune response" after just one dose. The first vaccinations for at-risk groups are expected to take place in October.