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14 cancer patients contract swine flu in British hospital: media

Xinhua, February 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Leicester Royal Infirmary has closed three wards after 14 cancer patients were diagnosed with swine flu, according to a report by BBC on Thursday.

The patients, who are suffering with the H1N1 strain of influenza, have been isolated to avoid an outbreak, BBC quoted the hospital as saying.

Swine flu was the unofficial name given to the H1N1 strain of influenza that was responsible for the flu pandemic in 2009 to 2010. However, this specific strain of flu is now circulating each year and is considered a normal seasonal flu strain, which is covered by the annual seasonal flu vaccine, according to the Public Health England.

All necessary precautions were taken and these patients have been isolated to avoid an outbreak, BBC quoted Liz Collins, lead nurse for infection prevention, as saying.

It was unlikely it would ever be known how the flu got onto the wards, said Dr Philip Monk, from Public Health England.

When it gets into a clinical setting where people are very vulnerable then this is a difficult situation to manage, he also said. "Everything is being done and it is under control."

Another three people being treated at the city's Glenfield Hospital also have swine flu, but these are not linked to the cases at the other hospital. Endit