Swine flu: Half of all UK cases in West Midlands
More than half of the swine flu cases in the UK are now in the West Midlands after a further 124 new cases were confirmed last night.
A further three schools closed yesterday in a bid to stop the virus from spreading .
Lordswood Boy’s School in Harborne, Park View Secondary School in Washwood Heath and Nunnery Wood High School, in Worcestershire were all closed yesterday because of outbreaks. Health officials warned people with symptoms to stay at home and maintain basic hygiene checks to help prevent further outbreaks.
Dr Brian Mccloskey, from the Health Protection Agency, said it was not unusual for flu viruses to proliferate in one area before spreading elsewhere.
“We expect to see it spread out farther. There’s no real reason for there to be so many cases in the West Midlands. It tends to turn up in one place and spreads out.
“Having turned up in schools in Birmingham it was inevitable that it would spread out into the community.”
He added: “It’s just unfortunate that Birmingham had to take the hit.”
Dr Mccloskey said that despite the death in Scotland earlier this week, most cases of the virus were mild.
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