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Graeme Pacitti, a close contact of swine flu couple Iain and Dawn Askham, has been confirmed as the first person in Britain to have contracted the virus from another human.
Last Updated: 4:37PM BST 01 May 2009
Graeme Pacitti: Swine flu: first human-to-human transmission confirmed in UK
Graeme Pacitti: Mr Pacitti has been receiving antiviral drugs since falling ill and his condition is not serious. His own friends, family and contacts are now being checked up. Photo: UNIVERSAL NEWS AND SPORT
The 24-year-old NHS health worker's positive test results were made public by the Scottish government this afternoon.
Mr Pacitti has been receiving antiviral drugs since falling ill and his condition is not serious. His own friends, family and contacts are now being checked up.
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Swine flu: Another probable case in Scotland
He is only the second patient outside the US to have contracted swine flu without visiting Mexico, following a German woman whose condition was confirmed this morning.
Although medical experts say that human-to-human transmission of the virus in Britain is to be expected and is not cause for concern while the symptoms are mild, the diagnosis will further heighten fears of an imminent pandemic.
"Increased and sustained" transmission between human populations in different continents would see the World Health Organisation raise its alert level from five to six, meaning that a pandemic is underway.
But Dr Alan McNally, senior lecturer and influenza diagnostics researcher at Nottingham Trent University, said: "We know that it is transmitted from human to human, it has happened in other parts of the world and we know it will happen here.
"I know that there will be interest in it because members of the public will see that they don't need to have been to Mexico to get it."
Meanwhile, the Danish authorities have announced the first confirmed case of swine flu in Scandinavia, while 343 cases have now been confirmed in Mexico, 15 of them fatal.
The first victim in Asia has been diagnosed in Hong Kong. The sufferer is a Mexican citizen who flew in to Hong Kong via Shanghai yesterday.
Mr Pacitti, who works at Falkirk Royal Infirmary, is now in quarantine at his home in the town along with his mother and other members of his family.
He plays football on the same six-a-side team as Mr Askham and fell ill after they went for a team night out at a local pub.
He said: "It's just typical flu. I have a sore throat, a sore head and an upset stomach. I have been told to stay at home and my mother, her partner and my brother are also in the house."
He was initially cleared but continued to show symptoms and further tests confirmed he was suffering from Type A flu, the strain that includes swine flu.
The Department of Health has predicted that up to 1.2 million people could be admitted to hospital and 750,000 killed if a flu pandemic sweeps the nation.
A draft forecast prepared last September warned that up to half the British population ? or 30 million people ? could get influenza if the bug outbreak turns into a pandemic.
In the worst case, there would be 2,000 hospital admissions per 100,000 people ? or 1.2 million people. There would also be 1,250 fatalities per 100,000 ? or 750,000 people.
The document, seen by The Daily Telegraph, also warns that hospitals could be "rapidly overwhelmed" and forced to turn away critically ill patients in a pandemic.
It says that the health service is already working close to its capacity, leaving little scope to meet the demands of a mass outbreak of swine flu, which could force doctors to turn away patients needing intensive care.
The document says cuts in the number of beds since Britain last underwent a pandemic in 1969 ? combined with an ageing population and changes in the way patients are treated ? mean intensive care units "could be rapidly overwhelmed".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/s...an-to-human-transmission-confirmed-in-UK.html
Last Updated: 4:37PM BST 01 May 2009
Graeme Pacitti: Swine flu: first human-to-human transmission confirmed in UK
Graeme Pacitti: Mr Pacitti has been receiving antiviral drugs since falling ill and his condition is not serious. His own friends, family and contacts are now being checked up. Photo: UNIVERSAL NEWS AND SPORT
The 24-year-old NHS health worker's positive test results were made public by the Scottish government this afternoon.
Mr Pacitti has been receiving antiviral drugs since falling ill and his condition is not serious. His own friends, family and contacts are now being checked up.
Related Articles
*
Swine flu: First probable human to human contact in Britain
*
Swine flu: human-to-human transmission 'to be confirmed in UK'
*
Swine flu: 'first human transmission in Britain' investigated
*
Swine flu: first probable case of person to person transmission in Britain
*
Swine flu: Another probable case in Scotland
He is only the second patient outside the US to have contracted swine flu without visiting Mexico, following a German woman whose condition was confirmed this morning.
Although medical experts say that human-to-human transmission of the virus in Britain is to be expected and is not cause for concern while the symptoms are mild, the diagnosis will further heighten fears of an imminent pandemic.
"Increased and sustained" transmission between human populations in different continents would see the World Health Organisation raise its alert level from five to six, meaning that a pandemic is underway.
But Dr Alan McNally, senior lecturer and influenza diagnostics researcher at Nottingham Trent University, said: "We know that it is transmitted from human to human, it has happened in other parts of the world and we know it will happen here.
"I know that there will be interest in it because members of the public will see that they don't need to have been to Mexico to get it."
Meanwhile, the Danish authorities have announced the first confirmed case of swine flu in Scandinavia, while 343 cases have now been confirmed in Mexico, 15 of them fatal.
The first victim in Asia has been diagnosed in Hong Kong. The sufferer is a Mexican citizen who flew in to Hong Kong via Shanghai yesterday.
Mr Pacitti, who works at Falkirk Royal Infirmary, is now in quarantine at his home in the town along with his mother and other members of his family.
He plays football on the same six-a-side team as Mr Askham and fell ill after they went for a team night out at a local pub.
He said: "It's just typical flu. I have a sore throat, a sore head and an upset stomach. I have been told to stay at home and my mother, her partner and my brother are also in the house."
He was initially cleared but continued to show symptoms and further tests confirmed he was suffering from Type A flu, the strain that includes swine flu.
The Department of Health has predicted that up to 1.2 million people could be admitted to hospital and 750,000 killed if a flu pandemic sweeps the nation.
A draft forecast prepared last September warned that up to half the British population ? or 30 million people ? could get influenza if the bug outbreak turns into a pandemic.
In the worst case, there would be 2,000 hospital admissions per 100,000 people ? or 1.2 million people. There would also be 1,250 fatalities per 100,000 ? or 750,000 people.
The document, seen by The Daily Telegraph, also warns that hospitals could be "rapidly overwhelmed" and forced to turn away critically ill patients in a pandemic.
It says that the health service is already working close to its capacity, leaving little scope to meet the demands of a mass outbreak of swine flu, which could force doctors to turn away patients needing intensive care.
The document says cuts in the number of beds since Britain last underwent a pandemic in 1969 ? combined with an ageing population and changes in the way patients are treated ? mean intensive care units "could be rapidly overwhelmed".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/s...an-to-human-transmission-confirmed-in-UK.html