Mums-to-be should 'continue normal activities'

Updated on 20 July 2009

Health Secretary Andy Burnham tells pregnant mothers to continue normal activites and advises parents of young children to check if their child has a temperature at or over 38 degrees. Julian Rush reports.

Mr Burnham said the service, offering telephone and online help to take pressure off GPs and other frontline health services, will be in operation by the end of the week "subject to testing".

He told the Commons it would be accompanied by a "major public information campaign" and, after the launch, people would no longer need to ring their GP.

"They can either answer questions online, via the new website, or ring the call centre service, where trained staff will be able to assess them over the phone," he said.

The new system would not take effect in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as these countries had not seen such a swine flu spread, the health secretary said.

Mr Burnham said vaccines would be available from August with enough for 30 million people by the end of the year.

In a statement ahead of the parliamentary recess, the health secretary said that while the virus had spread quickly it had not become more dangerous.

"For the vast majority, swine flu remains a mild and self-limiting illness.

"Our advice to the public about dealing with it has not changed."

He said it was understandable people were becoming more concerned as cases rose and insisted all organisations had a role to play in providing "consistent and clear" advice.

The chief medical officer said most pregnant women with swine flu would only get mild symptoms but pregnancy brought a higher risk of complications.

In the face of claims of conflicting advice to pregnant women, he denied that the advice had changed since the start of the outbreak.

At present mothers-to-be are advised to continue normal activities, including going to work, travelling on public transport and attending family gatherings, Mr Burnham said.

He said pregnant women should observe good hand hygiene, including frequent use of soap and water, avoid contact with people known or suspected to have swine flu, and contact their GP as soon as possible if they think they have symptoms.

Concerned parents of young children were advised to check if their child had a temperature at or over 38 degrees. They were told to contact the national flu service or their GP if the child had a high temperature and any one other of the following symptoms: tiredness, headache, sore throat, shortness of breath, vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, aching muscles or limb and joint pain.

The latest figures show nine out of 10 NHS regions are showing exceptional levels of flu-like illnesses, he said.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley questioned who had been responsible for the flu service coming into force a month late, saying it would have averted recent public confusion.