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Source: http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/39Hundreds-could-die-from-flu39.4541481.jp
'Hundreds could die from flu' warns GP
Published Date: 01 October 2008
By Staff reporter
A WINTER flu pandemic could kill hundreds of people in Londonderry, a local GP has warned.
Health experts now agree that it is a matter of "if and not when" an influenza pandemic affects the entire globe.
Earlier this month the UK's Department of Health specialist unit set up to minimise the impact of a global flu strain- the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Team - warned that half the UK population could show clinical symptoms of influenza over the course of a pandemic.
The report claims a flu pandemic is now the single greatest threat to British society, and the risk far outweighs the impact of a terrorist strike.
Londonderry GP Dr Tom Black, local secretary of the British Medical Association shares that view.
He said it was likely any new pandemic would be the worst ever faced by humankind.
" It is inevitable that we will have another pandemic. Tens of millions died in the 1918 outbreak of Spanish flu but any new pandemic will have a much worse outcome.
"We now have a much older, a more vulnerable population."
The Department of Health report suggests that while 1million patients visit their GP's during a normal flu season a pandemic will see that figure rise to 30 million.
Estimates suggest a mortality rate of 2.5 percent among those who contract symptoms.
Dr Black said this would equate " to hundreds of deaths " locally.
He said it was essential that 'at risk groups' such as , the elderly and people living with illnesses that affect the immune system get vaccinated against flu. Dr Black said the vaccination offered partial protection against a pandemic. The vaccine programme is to get underway in October.
Local authorities have been planning for a pandemic for some time.Last year it was revealed workers at Derry City Council were to receive training to bury bodies as part of emergency plans to cope with the impact of a pandemic.
A report by the the council's chief environmental officer then suggested a pandemic could affect 50 percent of the city's population with the death toll estimated at around 4000.
'Hundreds could die from flu' warns GP
Published Date: 01 October 2008
By Staff reporter
A WINTER flu pandemic could kill hundreds of people in Londonderry, a local GP has warned.
Health experts now agree that it is a matter of "if and not when" an influenza pandemic affects the entire globe.
Earlier this month the UK's Department of Health specialist unit set up to minimise the impact of a global flu strain- the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Team - warned that half the UK population could show clinical symptoms of influenza over the course of a pandemic.
The report claims a flu pandemic is now the single greatest threat to British society, and the risk far outweighs the impact of a terrorist strike.
Londonderry GP Dr Tom Black, local secretary of the British Medical Association shares that view.
He said it was likely any new pandemic would be the worst ever faced by humankind.
" It is inevitable that we will have another pandemic. Tens of millions died in the 1918 outbreak of Spanish flu but any new pandemic will have a much worse outcome.
"We now have a much older, a more vulnerable population."
The Department of Health report suggests that while 1million patients visit their GP's during a normal flu season a pandemic will see that figure rise to 30 million.
Estimates suggest a mortality rate of 2.5 percent among those who contract symptoms.
Dr Black said this would equate " to hundreds of deaths " locally.
He said it was essential that 'at risk groups' such as , the elderly and people living with illnesses that affect the immune system get vaccinated against flu. Dr Black said the vaccination offered partial protection against a pandemic. The vaccine programme is to get underway in October.
Local authorities have been planning for a pandemic for some time.Last year it was revealed workers at Derry City Council were to receive training to bury bodies as part of emergency plans to cope with the impact of a pandemic.
A report by the the council's chief environmental officer then suggested a pandemic could affect 50 percent of the city's population with the death toll estimated at around 4000.
