"Don't panic over swine flu," says Bolton health chiefs (From The Bolton News)

"Don't panic over swine flu," says Bolton health chiefs

9:00am Sunday 19th July 2009 in

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BOLTON’S top health chief last night urged people in the town not to panic over swine flu.

Jan Hutchinson, director of public health at NHS Bolton, says the public should not be scared — and treat the condition like normal seasonal flu, which appears each winter.

She spoke out to reassure people as the number of people with the virus has soared in recent days.

Mrs Hutchinson said: “So far, very few people have become seriously ill with swine flu and the vast majority of people have recovered quickly.

“Flu is a nasty illness, but we cope with it every winter and many people with flu don’t even contact their doctor.

“There’s no need to go to the surgery. You’ll be better off at home and, by staying at home, you’ll avoid spreading the virus.

“There’s certainly no need for people to go to the accident and emergency department at the Royal Bolton Hospital or the walk-in centre in Ashburner Street, where they could put others at risk.”

All GPs have reported being very busy and people have been swamping the hospital.

Heather Edwards, head of communications, said: “Despite the advice, some people are turning up at A and E with symptoms or phoning the hospital.

“Only people who are seriously ill should be coming to the hospital and outpatients will not be given anti-virals by us.

“We would like to repeat the national advice about what people should do if they are concerned.”

Anyone with flu symptoms is advised to stay at home, rest, drink fluids and take paracetamol.

If they do not feel better after two or three days, are pregnant or have other health conditions, such as heart disease and respiratory conditions, they should phone their GP.

Patients prescribed anti-viral medication by their doctor need to stay at home and send someone else to collect it.

Bolton’s anti-viral collection centre, which handed out Tamiflu to 178 people between July 6 and 12, has been a lot busier this week.

Plans are being put in place to have longer opening hours at the centre, to meet demand.

Figures for the number of people collecting medication for others between July 13 and 19 will be available early next week.

And people who are not currently unwell are being advised to prepare for flu.

Mrs Hutchinson said: “People who haven’t yet had flu need to think about who normally cares for them if they’re ill.

“You may need to ask someone specifically to collect anti-virals for you, so it’s a good idea to have a note of their phone number should the need arise.

“Just dropping off medicines for someone with flu won’t mean you’ll catch it — you’d need to spend some time in close contact with a patient to catch this bug.”

To keep the virus at bay, everyone should wash their hands regularly, cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, throw away tissues straight away and clean hard surfaces like door handles and worktops with normal cleaning products.

Symptoms of swine flu are a sudden fever and cough and others may include headache, tiredness, aching muscles, diarrhoea or stomach upset, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing and loss of appetite.

There were estimated to be 55,000 new cases in the UK last week and, as of yesterday, 29 people had died, many with underlying health problems.

Bolton Council has sent Health Protection Agency advice letters out to all schools, with advice for staff and parents.