Sudden jump in number of cases
What should we make of the sudden jump in the number of confirmed swine flu cases in Britain? , all of them connected to an outbreak at a school in Handsworth.
The total number of cases at has reached 50, most of them children. That means that nearly a third of Britain's 184 confirmed cases now centre on one outbreak.
While any sudden jump in the number of cases is of concern, there appears to be no evidence of widespread transmission of the virus in the community. The World Health Organisation would declare a pandemic only if the virus were seen to be spreading without check in two regions of the world.
, including more than 90 deaths.
Although the majority of deaths have been in Mexico, it's the United States which is now the focal point of the outbreak, with just over half of all the world's cases.
Health officials will be keeping a keen eye on what happens after this week's half-term break with many families taking holidays in the USA. A week from now, it would not be surprising to see another rise in cases linked to foreign travel.
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