NHS Herefordshire and Herefordshire Council have announced that all school-aged children in the county are to be offered the new swine flu vaccine in the autumn term by the school nursing service.

The Department of Health has announced that swine flu vaccinations will commence from September 2009, and that the core vaccines have been tested with no serious adverse effects. The programme, which is aimed at protecting people from the imminent risk of catching swine flu, will consist of two injections approximately 3 to 4 weeks apart.

The government has signed contracts to secure enough vaccine for the whole population of the UK and in Herefordshire, plans are in place to offer the vaccine to the wider population as soon as it becomes sufficiently available in the autumn of this year.

In the meantime, NHS Herefordshire has asked that everyone ensure they have a ‘flu friend’ who can collect medicine for them if they are diagnosed as having swine flu.

The county’s 24 GP practices have now been provided with authorisation vouchers for antiviral drugs, which can be given to flu friends to collect medicines for patients from one of six key pharmacies in Hereford and in the market towns, which have been supplied with stocks of antiviral medicine. Hereford Hospital and accident and emergency units also have authorisation vouchers.

Pharmacies will dispense antiviral medicines only if they are presented with an authorisation voucher, and they will also provide advice on the use of the medicines. No prescription charges will be made.

If demand increases beyond the capacity of the community pharmacies, NHS Herefordshire has plans in place to open special collection points to distribute antiviral medicines for up to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Already several hundred council and primary care trust staff have come forward to be redeployed to the antiviral collection points if this proves necessary.

The county is also geared up to launch its own flu helpline if required, although a national flu telephone helpline and website is planned to be operational in the next few days to give advice and dispense anti-flu drugs.

“We want to reassure people that the primary care trust and the council are ready for swine flu and our unique partnership means our staff can support each other if we need to activate emergency measures”, said Dr Akeem Ali, director of public health.

"Herefordshire people now understand that the number of cases will continue to increase, but people should remain calm and remember that the vast majority of people with swine flu in the UK have experienced mild symptoms and made a full recovery.

“We have robust plans in place and local people can be sure we have enough stocks of antiviral treatment to treat everyone should we need to. Our GPs and indeed everyone who works in public services in Herefordshire is working to ensure that patients get the best possible care, when and where they need it”.

Current advice for people who think they have swine flu is to stay at home, go online and check symptoms on www.nhs.uk or call the swine flu information line on 0800 1513513. If still concerned, people should then call their GP, who will make an assessment and may suggest a course of antiviral treatment particularly for those with underlying health problems and high risk groups such as those over 65, children under five and pregnant women. If swine flu is diagnosed the GP will create an authorisation voucher for the patient.

People should nominate a healthy friend or relative who can collect the authorisation voucher from the GP surgery and take it to an antiviral collection point to pick up the treatment.

People should not go to the accident and emergency unit or their GP surgery if they suspect they have swine flu, unless they are advised to do so by a healthcare professional.

Dr Akeem Ali added: "We must remember the obvious things we can all do to help reduce the spread of infection. Follow basic hygiene rules; cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough, dispose of the tissue immediately and then wash your hands thoroughly. In short – catch it, bin it, kill it.

"Self care can also be effective in reducing symptoms for mild cases, so people can also drink plenty of fluids, get lots of rest and use over-the-counter flu remedies as they normally would.

"The situation will continue to change as we learn more about this new virus and we will ensure that local people are kept informed”.

In line with the government decision to move to from a ‘containment’ phase to a ‘treatment’ phase earlier in the month, Herefordshire is no longer swabbing possible cases and sending them for laboratory testing. Instead GPs are making an immediate diagnosis and prescribing treatment, which means national and local figures on confirmed cases of swine flu are no longer available.

NHS Herefordshire, the primary care trust, confirms that swine flu is now very much part of the community across the whole of the West Midlands. Herefordshire Council is aware of several schools and nurseries in the county that have pupils that have been diagnosed and they are being treated and recovering at home. Several employers will also have reports of staff being diagnosed.

The primary care trust and the council confirm there is no need for nurseries or schools to close if pupils or staff are diagnosed, and there is no need for people to stay away from work unless they have flu-like symptoms.

Further information about swine flu The Department of Health has launched a Swine Flu Information Line – 0800 1513513 - which contains pre-recorded messages giving background to the disease and what we can all do to prevent its spread. It will refer callers who need more assistance to NHS Direct A national door drop of information leaflets was undertaken but copies can also be downloaded from www.direct.gov.uk/swineflu. A mass public health campaign has been undertaken with TV and radio to remind people of the measures they can take to contain the spread of swine flu.

Information for the public can be found on the NHS Choices information and advice service: http://www.nhs.uk/ as well as the Department of Health website: www.dh.gov.uk and the Health Protection Agency website: http://www.hpa.org.uk/ For local information visit the council’s website on: http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/ and the primary care trust web site: http://www.herefordshire.nhs.uk/ Schools and other children’s services are expected to be operating as usual and there is guidance published on planning for, and responding to, pandemic flu. This can be found on the Teachernet website:: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/emergencies/planning/flupandemic/ Business Link carries information on business continuity and on protecting the workforce on: www.businesslink.gov.uk/swineflu The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform website also has further references: http://www.berr.gov.uk/aboutus/pressroom/page51164.html The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website gives advice if you are travelling overseas: www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/swine-flu. If you come back from one of the affected countries abroad and have flu like symptoms, stay at home and call your GP or NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

The Royal College of Midwives have released advice on swine flu and pregnancy: http://www.rcm.org.uk/college/media-centre/press-releases/rcog-rcm-statement-advice-on-swine-flu-and-pregnancy/