Will you call the swine flu pandemic service?

30 July 2009: Almost 3 in 4 goodtoknow users wouldn't call the national pandemic flu service (NPFS) if they thought they had swine flu, a poll has revealed.

The poll, run over the last week on goodtoknow, had over 700 responses and of those only 25.9% said they would call the NPFS phone number or use the website.

56% said they would just go to bed and take paracetamol, while 18.1% said they'd rather talk to their GP if they had symptoms swine flu.

Last week, the government launched its national pandemic flu service, to take pressure off the NHS while swine flu continues to spread.

People with symptoms of swine flu are now encouraged to call 0800 1 513 100 (or textphone number 0800 1 513 200) or visit the website www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu if they are worried about swine flu.

Health secretary Andy Burnham said: 'People can still speak to their GP if they are concerned. In fact - it is important to stress that people with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, and parents with children under the age of one should speak to their GP if they have symptoms.

'For the vast majority of people, swine flu has been mild. Some people find that they get better by staying in bed, drinking plenty of water and taking over-the-counter flu medicine.'

Professor Steve Field, Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), also stressed that there is no need to panic. He said: 'We are pleased that the message is getting through that swine flu is, in the majority of cases, a relatively minor illness.'

Last week, goodtoknow spoke to Woman Magazine's Dr Chris, who stressed that anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu are not a cure for swine flu.Good to Know contacts:

The site editor is Jolene Akehurst jolene_akehurst@ipcmedia.com
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Editor's notes:

Goodtoknow.co.uk was set up in 2007  by IPC Media
Goodtoknow.co.uk has 550,000 unique users per month

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