Mr Healey said it had been clear the current outbreak would not be like "normal winter flu because we knew swine flu would be dominant".
On Monday, Thomas Lonngren, the head of the European Medicines Agency, said such a human vaccine might not be ready before next year's winter flu season.
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The Hajj season -- dates vary depending on the sighting of the new moon -- peaks between Wednesday and Saturday this year, just as the winter flu season gets underway in the Northern hemisphere.
GPs had been encouraged to stockpile the winter flu jab at their own cost and risked being undermined if pharmacies, which did not have to buy the vaccination, were also able to offer it, he said.
And yet thanks to the visiting flu virus, against which too few people were vaccinated, New Labour now gives exactly the impression that Mr Blair wants to avoid: not exceptional government, not even government as usual, but government in the grip of the usual winter flu crisis.
The number of deaths this winter from flu across the UK verified by the Health Protection Agency stands at 50, with 45 of these due to swine flu.
"H1N1 flu has been around both this winter and last winter following the pandemic flu previously so it's not a particularly unusual thing to have happened, " he said.
This winter's flu has been far less severe in terms of case numbers than the one which preceded it.
The bed shortage faced by the hospitals during last winter's flu crisis highlighted the need for additional resources, the report urges.
During the 1999 to 2000 winter, seasonal flu deaths reached 21, 000 and even during average winters there are normally anywhere between 6, 000 to 8, 000 deaths.
As for why this winter's flu season seems especially bad, Dr. Marr believes it is because of the particular strain of the virus, H3N2, which causes "stronger" symptoms, as well as an early start to the season.
If you caught the flu this winter, you know how miserable it can be.
Unluckily for the town's winter sports, swine flu is expected to die down only when the snow melts.
It was an attempt to reduce some of the strain on the health service caused by winter pressures such as flu outbreaks.
The NHS in Northamptonshire is asking people with symptoms of colds, flu and winter sickness not to visit hospitals over the festive period.
Thus, we need to be prepared for an even worse outbreak of swine flu this winter and should not declare victory too soon.
It seems unlikely that a smartphone application, as opposed to more tried-and-tested methods like vaccination or a face mask, could help you avoid going down with a dose of the flu this winter.
The flu outbreak this winter season has laid low millions of Americans.
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His comments come as doctors' leaders objected to pharmacies in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Blaenau Gwent trialling a system to offer the flu jab this winter.
So far this year that figure is already on the rise as the flu virus has shown up in more than half of the country with 29 states reporting high or severe flu cases this winter.
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With winter not even three weeks old, flu season has packed a wallop on cities in the northeast.
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Massachusetts vaccinated more residents against the swine flu and seasonal flu in the fall and winter than any other state.
McIlroy, albeit five years younger, has had only one win in 82 European starts but would be encouraged by his first event of the year after a winter break during which he suffered swine flu.
However, he issued a warning that further falls were unlikely over the next two months as the NHS faces up to winter pressures and the increased demands from flu and the Christmas and New Year holiday.
"This virus has the potential to cause significant illness with hospitalizations and deaths during the U.S. flu season this fall and winter, " said Dr. Karen Kotloff, professor of pediatrics and lead investigator and researcher at Maryland's Center for Vaccine Development.
Officials from WHO and the CDC plan to monitor developments in the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season arrives over the next few months as winter begins there.
Nardini says they both slept better and had more energy, and she didn't get a cold or the flu all month as she usually does in the winter.
But in the winter, when air from outside is heated and becomes drier, the flu virus survives well.
They were already researching using Twitter to track health issues before this winter's recent outbreak but quickly changed tracks to focus on the flu.
Twenty flu-related deaths have been reported among children already this winter.
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