Strategy to control Jersey swine flu outbreak is working

02 December 2009

The number of swine flu cases has declined sharply with only 62 new cases being diagnosed in the past week compared with 242 the previous week. The majority of these have been in school children, particularly in secondary schools.

So far this week, the number of cases have fallen further, indicating a continuing reduction of swine flu in the Island. Medical Officer of Health, Dr Rosemary Geller, said: “The statistics suggest we have brought the outbreak under control in schools. Given the high number of cases we’ve been seeing, we might have expected another doubling of cases this week, if urgent action had not been taken.”

Outbreak controller, Dr Ivan Muscat, said: “We believe that the measures we put in place, such as offering timely Tamiflu to patients and to their contacts, have curtailed our first swine flu wave as evidenced by the fall in cases. This is now being consolidated by the protection children are getting from vaccination.

“However, we must be vigilant for the possibility of a second wave, particularly as the flu season doesn’t end until March. We are offering a booster vaccine to children aged over 6 months and up to 11 years old to ensure their protection is sustained during the winter months. Older children and adults do not need a booster dose unless informed otherwise by their GP. We are also hoping to extend our offer of vaccination to the general population shortly, with a view to covering about 50% of our population by the end of the year.”

The Health Department is currently working with GPs on the logistics for the final phase of the vaccination programme. This will involve offering the swine flu vaccine to the rest of the Island’s population. Until now, the vaccine has only been offered to at risk groups, pregnant women and new mothers, health care and essential workers, and children.

Dr Linda Diggle, an immunisation specialist who’s leading the vaccination programme, said: “The initial phases have gone extremely well and we’ve vaccinated more than 30% of the population. We’re hoping to be in a position to offer the vaccine to all Islanders in the coming weeks.“

Additional vaccination clinics will be held during the school Christmas holidays to offer the vaccine to returning students.