Wales: Hospital worker contracts swine flu

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Source: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...al-worker-contracts-swine-flu-91466-24007180/


Hospital worker contracts swine flu

Jun 28 2009 WalesOnline

A HOSPITAL worker was one of four new cases of swine flu confirmed in Wales today.

The 24-year-old healthcare worker at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, is directly linked to a confirmed case in the West Midlands.

His close contacts, including eight patients, three colleagues and two household contacts, have been traced and offered antiviral medicine.

The man did not contract the infection in the hospital and is no longer in work.

He has been offered antiviral medicine and is recovering well.

There is not said to be any risk to any other patient or member of staff at the hospital.

The total number of cases in Wales now stands at 17.

The other three cases confirmed today include an eight-year-old boy from Denbighshire who is directly linked to a confirmed case in Scotland.

A 10-year-old boy in Pembrokeshire was also confirmed as having swine flu and his infection was related to travel.

A 22-year-old man from Monmouthshire is presumed to have contracted swine flu from a confirmed case in Exeter.

There are currently four clinically presumed cases in Wales including one new case of a 19-year-old woman from Bridgend County Borough, directly linked to a confirmed case in Exeter.

Up until now, the National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) has been testing everyone who has potentially come into contact with swine flu and who has symptoms.

But a spokesman said: ?We are moving to the position where swine flu is circulating so freely in the community that we will test very few people as patients? doctors will assume that anyone with flu-like symptoms has contracted swine flu.

?As part of the transition towards this phase, we are now reporting clinically presumed cases.

?They are household contacts of confirmed cases of swine flu, who have symptoms of swine flu and are presumed to have swine flu but will not be laboratory tested.?

A total of 189 people have been under investigation in Wales with swine flu ruled out in 144 cases.

 

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Re: Wales: Hospital worker contracts swine flu

Source: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...et-in-welsh-swine-flu-numbers-91466-24024100/


Biggest daily increase yet in Welsh swine flu numbers

Jun 30 2009 Madeleine Brindley, WalesOnline


ANOTHER nine people, including a healthcare worker at Wales? largest hospital, have been diagnosed with swine flu.

It is the biggest single daily increase yet in Wales and brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 26.

The newest cases include a 25-year-old man who works at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

He is thought to have caught the H1N1 virus while travelling and is not linked to another healthcare worker at the hospital who was confirmed with swine flu at the weekend.

A number of patients and other staff at the hospital have been offered antiviral medicine after being in close contact with the NHS worker.

The man, who has not been named, is no longer in work and is said to be recovering well.

The other eight cases are all thought to be students returning from university and include a 21-year-old man, from Cardiff, who is a direct contact of a confirmed case in Leicester and two women, aged 19 and 20, from Swansea, who are direct contacts of a confirmed case in Exeter.

Three further cases ? all women, aged 19 and 20 from Cardiff and a 19-year-old from Bridgend ? are also linked to confirmed cases in Exeter, where there has been a large outbreak centred on the university.

The remaining two cases are a 19-year-old woman, from Cardiff, who is a direct contact of a confirmed case in Warwick and a 22-year-old woman from Caerphilly, who is a contact of a confirmed case in Oxford.

There are also five clinically presumed cases of swine flu in Wales.

Dr Tony Jewell, Wales? chief medical officer, said: ?The number of cases is continuing to increase in Wales. This is to be expected given the increase in other parts of the UK.

?People should not be alarmed by this increase, but it is natural for people to be apprehensive.

?So far, in the UK and other countries where the virus is circulating, in the majority of cases, it remains mild, but proving more severe in a small number of people, and three people have died.?

The schoolgirl who died in Birmingham after contracting swine flu was today named as Sameerah Ahmad.

She also had underlying health problems and died at Birmingham Children?s Hospital on Friday evening. It is not yet known if swine flu contributed to her death.

An inquest was opened at Birmingham Coroner?s Court this morning.