European Swine Flu Update

8th May 2009

This report captures the situation update from Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain,
Brussels and Scandinavia. It is compiled from official government and health
protection agency sources as well as top line online sources where conversation
is taking place on the topic. It seeks to be a brief but authoritative update on the
European situation regarding swine flu.

For further details please contact Kate Eden for healthcare related queries or Tom
McLoughlin for digital related queries:

Kate Eden

Tel: 00 44 203 047 2157

Tom McLoughlin

Tel: +44 20 3047 2070

Email: Thomas.mcloughlin@edelman.com

Brussels

Health:

• 14 new confirmed cases reported from EU and EFTA countries.

• New cases of in-country transmission reported from Spain (4) and the UK
(1).
• Outside of EU and EFTA countries, 2357 cases are reported, 2333 of which
are confirmed.
• “First sequence-confirmed case of infection with the new influenza
A(H1N1) strain in Germany”, published in Eurosurveillance:
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19203.
• Initial epidemiological findings in the European Union published in
Eurosurveillance:
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19204.
• “Update on epidemiological situation in Mexico and the US”, published in
Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5817a1.htm.
• Various new editorials and articles in the New England Journal of Medicine,
online edition: http://h1n1.nejm.org/.

Germany
Health:

• The Robert Koch Institute has confirmed patient number 10 in its latest
update yesterday
• All patients have a relatively mild form of the influenza and none of the
cases is considered to be seriously at risk.
• From a perspective point of view the analysis hasn’t changed: certain
stabilization but still on alert
• Media: No big news, rather background: From “Pharmacy sales rising due
to the new influenza” to “Pig breeding business loosing due the new
influenza”

Digital:
• Nothing significant to report

Italy

Health:

• No govt update since yesterday

Digital:

• The Italian Pharmacists Order Federation suggests following the

recommendations of the Health Ministry: avoid the panic and drug race.
http://tinyurl.com/cal6sz

France
Health:
To follow

Digital:
To follow

UK

Health:

Confirmed UK Cases as at 07 May Cases currently under laboratory

2009 investigation as at 17:00 06 May
2009
34 464 *

• The Department of Health confirmed two new cases of swine flu in

England yesterday. One new case is an adult from the East of England
region who recently returned from the United States. The second is a
school-aged child from the London region. Both patients have already
 received antivirals and are recovering at home. Close contacts of these
cases are also receiving antivirals as a precautionary measure.
• There are now 34 confirmed cases in the UK – 30 in England and four in
Scotland.
• Scientists at the Health Protection Agency (HPA) have produced the first
genetic fingerprint of the swine flu virus infecting humans across Europe.
The virus’s entire genomic sequence will now be studied alongside other
genetic information to give a greater understanding of how the virus
behaves as it infects individuals. As viruses are transmitted there is
potential for them to evolve and change their behaviour. Health secretary
Alan Johnson visited the HPA’s National Institute for Biological Standards
and Control (NIBSC) this morning to meet researchers working on swine
flu.

Digital:

• British couple who were quarantined in a Hong Kong hotel following a

swine flu outbreak said they would be free to leave their "cell" on Friday
night. Link
• Chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson has said that Swine flu may be
more infectious than so far appears in the UK and the current guidance on
catching it may have to be changed. Link
• Conversation is continuing to slow, with a heavy decrease in the volume of
tweets on the topic, down from 1.58% of all tweets last week to 0.33%
today.

Spain

Health:

• There are currently 33 suspected cases and 88 confirmed cases of Swine

Flu in Spain. All cases have been diagnosed as mild and patients have
responded effectively to treatment.
• Of the total number of people that have tested positive for the virus, none
remain hospitalized.

Digital:

• General overview: Swine flu is losing space in on line news sites as

situation goes back to normal. In some cases critical voices can be found,
remarking that media has created a awareness that has spread panic
around the globe. There are articles that covers how Mexico faces
economic problems (due to the stoppage of tourism and commerce), such
as Spanish newswire EFE.
• Inhaled vaccine offers new hope in the treatment of the virus. El País
informs about an European project to find the Swine-flu vaccine, called
Fluvacc. The vaccine, which would be administrated by inhalation, has
been developed from cellular farms instead of chicken’s eggs. Right now it
is in clinical trial phase, and in two weeks they will know if the vaccine is
useful and decide or not to manufacture it. LINK
 • Brazil and Argentina announce their first infections. It was a question of
time, says El País, that the virus reached the 2 main countries in South
America. The Brazilian Government confirmed there are 4 positive cases
in the country and 24 are suspicious. Argentina has also confirmed that at
least one person is infected with the virus. All infected people seem to be
fine at this time. LINK
• Jose Luis de la Serna, Vice director of daily newspaper El Mundo blogs
about the coverage the disease has generated in only two weeks. Swine
flu has gained more media attention that AIDS. There is, in conclusion and
unprecedented alert situation among population criticized by some media
and people in the developed countries . Nevertheless, all indicators shows
that human race faces a “pandemic age”, says De la Serna and in this
context media should inform and offer the most information as possible as
a act of responsibility. LINK

Scandinavia
Health:

• No reported cases in Sweden

• One reported in Denmark
• The Swedish government has made a deal with GlaxoSmithKline that will
assure full vaccine protection to the entire population
• The government and the Ministry of Social Health Affaires believe that the
situation is well under control
• Media cover has declined over the past 3-4 days
• No panic situation in the country like it was with “The Bird Flu”.

Digital:

• The first case of swine flu has now been confirmed in Sweden – a woman
50 yrs old who had visited the US. She got a mild form and has now
recovered. The authorities here are collaborating and updating news
regularly.

END