The Department of Health has again sought to reassure the general public that most cases of swine flu can be successfully managed at home, after it emerged that some 1,500 people presented to GPs last week with symptoms.
Two people are now critically ill in hospital with the virus and 12 have been hospitalised, it was confirmed yesterday.
In a statement this evening, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: "As we have been saying consistently, we have anticipated, and continue to anticipate, an increase in the number of cases.
"We are continuing our preparations for all eventualities and are also preparing a vaccination programme. We would reassure people that the vast majority of cases can be successfully managed at home using medication available over the counter including paracetemol."
The Department of Health said patients are now being diagnosed and managed clinically by their GP, following changes in the diagnosis and treatment of the influenza A (H1N1) virus.
"Swabs will, therefore, no longer be routinely taken from patients and sent for viral testing. The number of laboratory confirmed cases has, therefore, ceased to be a reliable indicator of the burden of infection."
Just 276 cases of swine flu were confirmed by laboratory tests, prior to the changes in how it is diagnosed and managed.
From today,an estimated number of cases will be provided based on information derived from the National Influenza Sentinel GP Surveillance Network, the Department said.
Established in 2000, this network of 60 'sentinel' GP practices network of 60 sentinel practices provides figures to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre and through it to the European Influenza Surveillance Network.
The figures will be reported on a weekly basis through the Department's website and those of of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre and the Health Service Executive.
Dr Holohan said this gives a good estimate of the numbers of cases of influenza-like illness being seen by GPs.
"This system shows that influenza like illness rates have increased in recent weeks and the latest of these reports a rate of 37 cases per 100,000 population in the week ending July 26th 2009. By way of context, the peak reported Influenza like illness rate during last winter was approximately120 per 100,000."
The Department of Health advised members of the public of "personal measures" they should take to reduce their chances of catching flu.
These included frequent and thorough hand-washing with soap and water. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective if washing facilities are not available, the Department said.
People should als avoid unnecessary close contact with people who have influenza or have symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, fever or shivering. Household surfaces touched by hands should also be kept clean - especially bedside tables, surfaces in bathrooms and kitchens and children's toys.
Director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre Dr Darina O'Flanagan said today the country was seeing a shift from cases involving individuals who had contracted the virus abroad to cases involving people who had acquired infection in Ireland.
“However, the information we have so far is that this is a mild epidemic and most infected people will be able to be managed at home,” she said.
St James’s Hospital Dublin confirmed yesterday that a man in his 30s, from Slovakia but living in Ireland for some years, was admitted last week and was critically ill with the virus.
The HSE has also advised GPs to stop administering Tamiflu as a preventive drug. The drug should now only by administered to people with severe symptoms or chronic underlying illnesses, it said yesterday.
The US government, meanwhile, has taken delivery of 20 million doses of a vaccine against the new pandemic H1N1 swine flu, and should be ready to start an immunisation campaign in October, officials said today.
Vaccine advisers meeting in Atlanta may follow World Health Organisation guidelines that put healthcare workers, pregnant women and patients with asthma and diabetes at the front of the line to get vaccinated.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices may also examine ways to manage a complicated US flu season, with people getting seasonal influenza immunisations alongside swine flu vaccines.
Robin Robinson of the US Department of Health and Human Services told the meeting the government has contracted to buy about 200 million doses of vaccine and that 20 million have been delivered.
Data from human trials of the new vaccine, which have just begun, will not be available until late September, officials told the meeting.