Swine flu cases surge in Paris

SWINE flu infection rates have surged in the Paris area with an 80% rise in child cases in the Ile-de-France.

Just seven weeks since the epidemic started the health watchdog INVS estimated there had been 167,000 consultations on the grippe H1N1 virus last week alone with the number of positive tests "very much higher than precedent weeks".

Many of the cases have been in the 6-14 age group and INVS is recommending strongly that vaccinations be given to youngsters from six months in order to give them immunity for an expected second wave of cases during 2010.

The large-scale vaccination campaign started last week for health personnel and will continue next week for the priority groups.

STORY: Flu outbreak is a first in France

However, there have been indications of a huge resistance against taking the jab – with a poll in Dimanche Ouest-France newspaper saying just 17% of the population intended to get vaccinated because of fears over the vaccine’s safety.

The same picture is being seen across Europe with large proportions of Britons, Belgians, Danes, Dutch, Finns, Germans and Spanish intending to avoid the jab after reports of severe side effects and even possible linked deaths in Sweden and Bulgaria.

There have been 44 deaths from swine flu in France, with 17 in the mainland and 27 in the overseas territories.