UK Swine Flu Death Toll Could Reach 63 000 - Report

Former UK PM Tony Blair's wife, Cherie, may have contracted swine flu and is being kept under observation. Photo by hr-romania.ro

New calculations from the UK's Department of Health suggest that, in the worst-case scenario, 63 000 people in the country could die after contracting the H1N1 flu virus in the first wave of the pandemic.

UK Officials said Thursday that 29 people had died thus far, it is also reported that the virus has mutated in some parts of London.

It was also reported Thursday that former UK PM Tony Blair's wife, Cherie, may have contracted swine flu and is being kept under observation.

However, a health department report said a "reasonable worst case scenario" was for some 30% of the population to get flu-like symptoms from swine flu, with some 2% of these hospitalized.

The paper suggested that the fatality rate for swine flu could be anywhere between 0,1%-0,35% of those who suffer flu-like symptoms, similar to the fatality rate from influenza.

That would mean between 18 000 and 63 000 people in the UK population of about 60 million could die in this worst-case scenario.

In Thursday's paper, the health department also estimated that as much as 12% of the work force could be absent from work at the peak point of the first wave of swine flu.

 

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