Britain set to change H1N1 flu policy

The government is preparing to change the way it deals with H1N1 flu by concentrating on individual cases rather than wider community action like shutting schools, officials said today.

The number of confirmed cases in Britain has more than doubled in a week to over 7,000.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham is due to make a statement in the House of Commons later. In Edinburgh, Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon will make a similar announcement.

Three patients with the infection have died in Britain. The Department of Health says most cases have been mild but are proving to be severe in a "small minority" of cases.

Some 6,929 cases of the infection, commonly known as swine flu, had been confirmed across Britain by Wednesday, compared with just under 2,905 a week earlier.

Cases are spreading fastest in the southwest, the east, the east Midlands and in London, which all saw more than a three-fold increase.