The Health Service Executive (HSE) has moved to allay public concern surrounding swine flu following the death of a second person from the disease.
A person in the eastern region became the State’s second fatality from the virus, the Health Service Executive confirmed last night.
The person’s family has requested that no details be released in relation to the deceased. However, it is understood they had no underlying health condition.
Dr Kevin Kelleher, the HSE’s head of health protection, insisted today the virus was a mild disease in most cases, with the vast majority of patients able to care for themselves at home.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at Oneprogramme, Dr Kelleher said a small number of sufferers require hospital treatment, and unfortunately a few patients eventually succumb to the disease.
He said about 1,500 people were contracting the disease each week in Ireland but so far only 50 people have had to be hospitalised, and by the end of last week 25 remained in hospital.
Dr Kelleher said up to 60 per cent of those who required hospitalisation had pre-existing health conditions. A small proportion hospital cases had no obvious underlying condition but had developed severe symptoms, he said.
Asked if sufferers admitted to hospital were being isolated, Dr Kelleher, said: “On the whole, people were being isolated but it depended on their clinical condition.”
He said the hospitals were currently using their single rooms to isolate patients but if the numbers swell, the plan would be to treat “cohort people in parts of wards”.
Dr Kelleher said a letter would be sent out to schools in the coming days, advising them on how best to avoid the spread of the disease.
In a brief statement last night, the HSE and Minister for Health Mary Harney offered their sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased.
On August 7th, an 18-year old woman with serious underlying medical problems, understood to be cystic fibrosis, became the first fatality in the State from the swine flu virus.
The woman, from the west of Ireland, died at Tallaght hospital in Dublin and is understood to have contracted the virus in the community.
To date, there have been over 500 confirmed cases of swine flu in the Republic. More than 40 per cent of people hospitalised with swine flu in the State so far have had pre-existing clinical conditions.