Swine flu brought huge leap in hospital influenza cases

The number of days people spent in hospital beds with flu in 2009 was up 700 per cent on 2008.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Apr 2010, 23:14 BST
Updated 9th Apr 2010, 23:14 BST

Figures from the NHS Information Centre revealed 33,376 days were taken up by people with flu compared to 4,163 in 2008.

The rise was steepest in the final quarter of 2009, with the number of bed days rising to 20,744 between October and December compared to 1,585 in the same period in 2008.

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This means the number of days was 13 times higher in 2009 than in 2008.

The spread of swine flu in the winter months is thought to have been behind the rise.

Of the 20,774 flu admissions between October and December 2009, 5,008 were among under-16s, 6,253 among people aged 17 to 39 and 6,438 were among those aged 40 to 59. Swine flu was more likely to hit younger age groups in 2009.