Reports of influenza-like illnesses in the community increased last week,leading the media to claim that the health service should brace itself for an epidemic.However,figures from the Health Protection Agency surveillance unit show that flu levels are still low for this time of year.In fact,UK health protection strategies have been remarkably successful to date.The main threat of a pandemic now comes from the recent development of avian flu in the Far East.Monitoring flu levels in the UK is co-ordinated by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre at the Health Protection Agency in Colindale.The centre receives weekly reports from separate schemes in England (from the Royal College of General Practitioners),Wales (National Public Health Service) and Scotland (Health Protection Scotland),using networks of GPs to record consultations for flu-like illnesses.The centre also collates virological data from laboratory systems and community-based sampling schemes across the UK.
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