The number of deaths from swine flu in Britain has climbed to 59 but infection rates have continued to fall through the summer, according to the Department of Health.
The latest figures released today show the disease on the wane during the holidays with about 260 people still being treated in hospital, fewer than last week. Of those, 30 were in intensive care.
Northern hemisphere countries have so far ordered more than one billion doses of swine flu vaccine, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.
This intense demand coupled with production delays could create shortages, forcing governments that are preparing for a second, possibly more deadly, wave of flu in the fall to make hard choices about who to vaccinate first, experts said.
"Pandemic vaccine orders put in by northern hemisphere countries stand at over one billion," WHO spokeswoman Melinda Henry told AFP.