Swine Flu killing the healthy as 140,000 diagnosed last week

New figures reveal that up to 140,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus in the past seven days. Of those 840 patients are described as "seriously ill" and 63 are being treated in intensive care.

As public concern over the disease grew, a government website crashed within seconds of it being launched today.

Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said 16 per cent of the fully-investigated swine flu deaths were healthy people, meaning up to four healthy people may have died. He refused to give the exact number because of patient confidentiality.

"This is an encouraging figure because the minority of deaths were healthy people and the numbers are still very small," said Sir Liam. "The bad thing would be if 100 per cent of the deaths were healthy people. The vast majority of people, even with an underlying condition, will get the flu and recover well."

Twenty-six people have died with swine flu since the outbreak began, but Sir Liam said not all those deaths had been fully investigated. In all 26 cases the death certificate recorded swine flu as the cause of death or a major contributory THE Government's swine flu service will be launched today, allowing millions of people to bypass their doctors and diagnose themselves with the disease.

It has been set up to ease pressure on GPs overwhelmed by the swine flu crisis, which has claimed 31 lives in Britain.

The National Pandemic Flu Service will consist of a phone line and website. The phone helpline will initially operate for 15 hours a day, handling up to 200,000 calls, and the online service should be available 24 hours a day.

Call centre staff will take callers through a computerised questionnaire to check symptoms. If it is suspected they have swine flu, callers will be given a unique reference number, allowing them to pick up anti-viral drugs from the otherwise secret locations.

The sufferer will then send a "flu buddy" to pick up the drugs, who will have to present ID for the patient and the reference number when they collect the medication.

However, The Department of Health has admitted the system is open to abuse from callers. It is feared many will simply claim to have swine flu symptoms amid fears that the Government's supply of anti-viral drugs could run out.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said it was a price worth paying to help the NHS cope with its "biggest challenge in a generation".

Pick-up points for the drugs have been forced to set up security to protect supplies of Tamiflu and Relenza, the two anti-viral drugs being used by the Government. Security teams have been drafted in, and distribution points are set to be replenished overnight to reduce the amount of the anti-viral drugs kept on site.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday that the service was designed to free up GPs' time. He said: "We have been preparing for a pandemic for a number of years. The NHS is continuing to cope well, but as swine flu cases have started to increase, we have needed to give anti-virals more quickly."

Under contingency plans, non-emergency operations can be cancelled, while doctors can be moved around the health service to help flu hotspots cope. The launch comes as a poll of 1,500 NHS staff by the Health Service Journal and Nursing Times showed 14 per cent did not think their organisation was coping successfully with the pressure.

Dr Richard Vautrey, of the British Medical Association, which helped design the service's checklist, said: "Some GP practices are receiving hundreds of calls a day and we have to prioritise so we can see the most seriously ill. As long as the call handlers get the correct training we can be confident in this service."

The Government has ordered up to 132 million doses of swine flu vaccine from GSK and another company, Baxter, in contracts worth £155.4 million over four years. The vaccine will not be available until September.

Education chiefs were also today considering radical plans to teach pupils from home, via virtual online lessons. Cobra, the emergency committee, is drawing up plans to use technology so that children's education is not disrupted by school shut-downs.

NHS posters and information leaflets will be printed with the new swine flu phone number and website address.