Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland confirmed 2,423 new cases of swine flu in the week ending 21 November, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) announced Friday 27 November, bringing the total to 6,691 since the outbreak began. The pandemic has already claimed four deaths in Switzerland, all from high risk patients. FOPH estimates that almost 27,000 people have consulted their doctors about the flu country-wide.

After a slow start to the flu season,  the number of consultations took off suddenly in the last week of October, the FOPH reports, and has reached almost 40 consultations per 1,000 population. For the seasonal flu, the number of consultations peaks at between 30 and 60 per 1,000 population, but much later in the season, around the second week of February.

Younger people are increasingly affected, especially those under 15 years of age. This week alone 10 people were admitted to intensive care units (ITU), reports the NZZ, citing Daniel Koch, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the FOPH. The number of people admitted to ITUs up to then had been 28.

FOPH also confirms that the bottlenecks reported in the provision of swine flu vaccine have been overcome, and there is enough vaccine for about 30 percent of the population.

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