Six swine flu infections in two days bring number of cases to 27

Six more cases of swine flu have been reported in the Czech Republic, bringing the number of infections in the country to 27. In the last two days the Ministry of Health has confirmed the virus in a three-year-old boy, his mother and grandmother, and in three other women. Most of the infected individuals had recently returned from the United States or the UK, however one apparently contracted the flu in her place of business in the centre of Prague, marking only the second case of domestic infection. The child is currently being monitored in hospital. Epidemiologists are anticipating a greater spread of the virus in the autumn, when they say it could mix with standard seasonal flu viruses. The Czech Republic’s chief hygiene officer Michael Vít has said it is possible to expect up to two million infections and 40,000 hospitalisations.