ABOUT 1,500 people visited GPs last week with suspected swine flu, three times more than the most recent figures released.
Director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre Dr Darina O'Flanagan yesterday said that she expected that the number of cases would increase further in the weeks and months ahead.
She said the revised figures on the numbers attending their doctors in relation to suspected swine flu came about following new data from the Irish College of General Practitioners.
On Tuesday, the Department of Health said more than 500 people had been diagnosed with the H1N1 swine flu virus by GPs last week.
In a statement last night, the department said swabs will no longer be routinely taken from patients and sent for viral testing and that people with suspected cases of swine flu will now be diagnosed and managed clinically by general practitioners.
"The number of laboratory confirmed cases has, therefore, ceased to be a reliable indicator of the burden of infection," the department said.
The statement said that, as of yesterday, the estimated number of cases of the virus will be calculated and provided on a weekly basis from information derived from the National Influenza Sentinel GP Surveillance Network.
The estimates will be reported through the websites of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health.
This method of calculation shows that influenza-like illness rates have increased in recent weeks and for the week ending July 26th there was a rate of 37 cases per 100,000 population in the State. The peak influenza-like illness rate reported last winter was approximately 120 cases per 100,000 of population.
Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said the number of cases of swine flu have been and will continue to be anticipated,
"We are continuing our preparations for all eventualities and are also preparing a vaccination programme. We would reassure people that the vast majority of cases can be successfully managed at home using medication available over the counter, including paracetamol," he said.
The department said that to date, 12 people had been hospitalised with the illness and that two of these had required treatment in intensive care.
The Health Service Executive yesterday declined to comment on the status of the patients being treated in intensive care units.
On Tuesday it emerged that a man in his 30s, who was admitted to St James's Hospital last week, was "critically ill" with the virus. The man who is originally from Bratislava in Slovakia, is understood to have contracted the virus abroad. He has been living in Ireland for several years.