In the week that one of our local schools was forced to close, we learned that no other schools in our district would be closed because of swine flu (H1N1) incidence. However, the number of confirmed swine flu cases in England has jumped by nearly 20% in a single day, latest figures show. The Health Protection Agency statistics show that 535 new cases were confirmed on Friday, bringing the total to 3,364, so reports the BBC.

Those figures are thrown into stark relief when you read the latest figures for the US published by WebMD. According to the CDC, more than 1 million Americans have had swine flu, and half of those cases have been in New York City.

Meanwhile, the possibility of a vaccine draws ever so slightly closer. Radiant Research, Inc. today announced that it is actively recruiting subjects and establishing operational plans for upcoming H1N1 vaccine trials.

Theories about mutant viruses abound, but the WHO said on Thursday that the H1N1 virus was “stable” and there was no sign of it mixing with avian flu or other influenza viruses. But, one has to say there’s a big “yet” at the end of that sentence. There is the possibility of reassortment of genes that could trigger the emergence of another strain. Of course, further reassortment could actually lead to an even less virulent strain, not necessarily a more lethal form of the virus. Time will tell.

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