Meltdown as swine flu site receives 2,600 hits a second

Published on Thursday 23 July 2009 22:02

THE swine flu pandemic website was overwhelmed within minutes of its launch yesterday, as new figures showed more than 100,000 cases of the virus had emerged in the UK in the past seven days.

Within its first few hours, the National Pandemic Flu Service website received the equivalent of 2,600 hits per second – or 9.3 million an hour. Thousands of visitors wanting to check their symptoms were told: "The service is currently very busy and we cannot deal with your request at this time."

Officials said at least part of the problem was many people logging on out of curiosity.

The service, which also includes a phoneline so patients in England can call to obtain anti-viral drugs, does not yet apply in Scotland, but could in future.

Officials revealed an estimated 100,000 new cases of swine flu had emerged in England last week – a dramatic rise on the 55,000 reported the previous week. A total of 840 people are "seriously ill" in hospital, with 63 in intensive care, the Department of Health said.

Since the lab testing of all suspected cases stopped in Scotland, estimates are now based on patients seen by GP "spotter practices", of which there are 55.

Figures showed that last week there were 47 GP consultations per 100,000 people for patients with flu-like symptoms, up from 25 the previous week. Extrapolated for the whole population, this suggests some 1,200 new cases of swine flu in Scotland last week – compared to an estimated 830 the previous week.

The Scottish Government said an average of 2,000 callers a day were contacting the flu response service and NHS 24 with flu-like symptoms.

So far, 55 people with swine flu have been hospitalised in Scotland since the outbreak began. Two are still in hospital. Four deaths have been linked to the virus – most recently, a girl of 15 in Glasgow this week.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "These latest figures show H1N1 continues to circulate in Scotland, but overall levels of illness which may be due to this virus remain relatively low. There are some parts of Scotland showing potential increases, but this is to be expected."

Of the deaths in England that have been investigated, 67 per cent had severe conditions such as leukaemia, 11 per cent had moderate conditions such as Type 1 diabetes, and 6 per cent had mild conditions such as high blood pressure controlled by tablets. Some 16 per cent had no medical conditions and were not taking any medication.

The National Flu Pandemic Service for England is being staffed by more than 1,500 call centre workers – who have no medical training – with the option of 500 more being recruited if necessary.

The initial 1,500 should be capable of dealing with more than 200,000 calls a day – or more than one million calls a week.

Callers' symptoms are assessed and, if necessary, they are told how to access antiviral drugs, which are available through collection points.

The website allows people to check their symptoms. But within minutes of the website launching at 3pm yesterday, visitors were faced with the "busy" message.

England's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said he suspected the problems with the website were caused by people logging on out of "curiosity".

He said it was "rather implausible to think that there might be tens of thousands of people with flu waiting within a one-hour period to all get on and assess their symptoms".

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the website was experiencing "unprecedented demand". But she stressed: "The National Pandemic Flu Service website has not crashed. It is experiencing unprecedented demand with 2,600 hits per second."

She said the capacity of the site was being quadrupled to cope.

Ms Sturgeon said that, unlike England, Scotland was not launching the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) yet because NHS 24 and GPs were continuing to manage the demands on the service.

She said: "We are keeping this situation under review and if demand grows over the next few months, we have the ability to opt into the NPFS service at a later stage."

Meanwhile, it has emerged that university campuses could be partly shut down, freshers' week events postponed and students quarantined if swine flu escalates in the autumn. Almost two million will be starting or returning to university in September and October – the time when it has been predicted the pandemic could peak.

Under contingency plans being drafted by universities to restrict the spread of the virus, affected students could be quarantined in their halls of residence, lectures podcasted and new students enrolled online.

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh University said: "The university has a special working party which has been meeting on a regular basis to monitor and assess the flu pandemic as it has developed. It is considering a range of possible measures which could be adopted to address the pandemic."

A spokesman for Glasgow Universit said: "The university is continually monitoring the spread of swine flu and is working closely with government and health authorities."

HOW NATIONAL PANDEMIC HOTLINE WILL WORK

Q: What is the National Pandemic Flu Service?

A: It is a telephone hotline manned by operators trained to help callers determine whether they have swine flu, and a website that will help people diagnose themselves. The service will be operating in England.

Q: How will it work?

A: Callers will be able to speak to an operator, who will determine whether they have swine flu based on the symptoms described. The website service will enable people to determine whether they have the bug. People diagnosed with swine flu will be told how to get access to anti-flu drugs.

Q: Why is it being introduced?

A: There was a big jump in confirmed swine flu infections in England last week, putting huge pressure on NHS services. In particular, NHS Direct saw its calls rise to about four times the normal winter levels when demand is at its highest.

Q: Who will answer the phone?

A: About 1,500 people have been brought in to staff the helpline.

Phone operators will not have medical training, but will have computer software enabling them to find out whether a caller is suffering from specific symptoms.

Q: When will the phone service be available?

A: It will initially be open for 15 hours a day. There is capacity for the phone service to run 24 hours a day if necessary.

Q: How will the drugs be dispensed?

A: People will be given a unique access number and told where their nearest antiviral collection point is. They will then need to nominate a "flu friend" – a friend or relative who doesn't have swine flu – to go and pick up the medicine.

Q: Will the system be open to abuse?

A: Yes. Medical experts fear it will not be long before the "correct" answers that allow people to get antiviral drugs will appear on the internet. But the government is apparently accepting this to relieve the pressure on the NHS.

Q: Why does it only cover England?

A: Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are initially staying out as the demands on their health services are much lower than in England. But it is understood all three areas will be able to share the service at a later date, if needed.