Dr Susan Turnbull

ISLANDERS are being urged to get vaccinated against swine flu if they are leaving Jersey for their Christmas holidays.

The Health Department has warned that although the virus has almost been eliminated in Jersey, the number of cases in the UK and Europe is continuing to rise.

The Health Department issued the advice as they revealed that only three new cases of the H1N1 virus were diagnosed in Jersey last week – one of the lowest weekly increases since the virus arrived in Jersey in June. A total of 683 Islanders have now been diagnosed with the disease.

Dr Susan Turnbull, Jersey’s Deputy Medical Officer of Health, said: ‘Across Europe, the number of deaths due to swine flu, mainly in relatively young and previously healthy people, has reached almost 1,400. There has been a steady increase, with seven times as many deaths a week compared with the rate in mid-October, and the number is still rising.

‘We urge people to get protected, especially if they are likely to be travelling to countries experiencing more flu activity than Jersey, which is most parts of the world.’