Birmingham identifies temporary morgues as swine flu cases rocket

Jun 21 2009 by Christina Savvas, Sunday Mercury

‘‘We just can’t make predictions as we can see from pervious flu pandemics.”

There have been three major influenza pandemics in the past 100 years.

The Spanish flu of 1918 infected more than 500 million people and killed up to 40 million.

In 1957 Asian flu killed two million and a 1986 outbreak led to one million deaths.

Professor Steve Fields, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and partner at Bellevue Medical Centre, Edgbaston, added: “It looks at the moment that swine flu is a mild illness and the death rate is very low.

‘‘We would expect that with seasonal flu, deaths would occur in elderly patients with underlying health issues such as heart disease or diabetes. But this new strain of influenza is also affecting young adults under the age of 25.

“Most of the cases are mild at the moment.

“The real danger is if it mutates and becomes more severe as we head into the autumn.”