The Health Service Executive said tonight it is preparing an information leaflet on swine flu for every household in the country that will be delivered if required.
The HSE said the leaflet would give details on how to deal with someone if they were suspected of contracting the condition and it would would be up to the Government when and if to distribute it.
While there are still no probable or definitive cases of the virus in the country, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan reiterated the HSE expects to see positive cases at some point.
“We have a leaflet in preparation, we are getting it ready to be distributed,” Dr Kevin Kelleher, head of Health Protection, said. “We will need to make a decision with the Government about when that happens.”
Dr Holohan said they were ready for any possible cases. “We’re certainly planning on the basis and if we were to get a case and I was to come to you some day and say there has been one case, in the sense it won’t change our general approach to this,” he said.
Dr Holohan said they had the capacity to deal with such an eventuality.
Professor Bill Hall, chairman of the National Pandemic Influenza Expert Group, said he did not expect the seasonal flu vaccine would have any effect on the strain.