Swine Flu Latest News

The Royal Borough is continuing to support its colleagues in NHS Berkshire East and responding to advice from the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

All schools in the Royal Borough are open as usual in line with advice from the HPA.

Advice from the HPA suggests that only close contacts of probable or confirmed cases (family, friends etc) will be issued with antiviral medicine as a precautionary measure and can continue their normal lives so long as they do not have any clinical symptoms.

Advice for schools and workers is available on the HPA website.

Headteachers have issued HPA guidance that any child with flu-like symptoms should be kept at home and parents should contact NHS Direct for advice at www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk or call 0845 46 47. Children with no symptoms should be sent to school as usual.

The numbers of swine flu cases in recent weeks has led to East Berkshire (ie the Royal Borough, Slough and Bracknell Forest) being named as a 'hot spot'. This follows the original containment policy which involved trying to ring-fence outbreaks by tracing the people with whom confirmed cases have come into contact and giving them drugs to try to prevent flu developing. The emphasis has now switched from containment to managing outbreaks.

Initial advice from the NHS is that anyone who has flu-like symptoms should STAY AT HOME and call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47 or you can go online to check your symptoms NHS direct, www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk. For further information on swine flu, you can also call 0800 1 513 513.

A special local number has been issued to doctors and schools for anyone who is believed to have the infection.

Children and adults who have no symptoms but have had contact with probable or confirmed cases should continue their normal daily routines.

For more details on where to get advice and information, please see our Swine Flu page.

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