9:13am Wednesday 13th January 2010
THE number of people seeking checks on whether they have caught Swine flu has more than halved across North Yorkshire in the last month.
New figures released by NHS North Yorkshire and York revealed 26 people attended York Hospital with swine flu-like symptoms between December 10 and January 8, as well as two in the Scarborough area and six in the Harrogate district.
But they also showed the consultation rate for flu-like illnesses per 100,000 people in the region fell to 11.8 as of this week, compared with a level of 28.9 in mid-December.
Dr Phil Kirby, NHS North Yorkshire and York’s associate director of public health, said: “It’s encouraging to see our flu consultation rate fall, but we must not be complacent.
“Swine flu continues to pose a risk to those who are most vulnerable, such as children and pregnant women.
“Our GPs are continuing to offer the swine flu vaccine to those in the ‘at risk’ groups and I would encourage all those who have been offered the jab to take it up – if you can’t catch it, you can’t pass it on.”
So far, Yorkshire and the Humber has seen 27 swine flu-related deaths since the pandemic first struck, with four of those coming in the latest period for which statistics are available. There has been no confirmation about where these victims were from.
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