The National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) in England will be discontinued from 11th Feb 2010, the Department of Health has told healthcare professionals

In a letter to pharmacists sent last week, Keith Ridge, chief pharmaceutical officer for England explains that the levels of swine influenza circulating in the community are currently half what they were two weeks before the NPFS went live. The service can be restored in seven days should it be needed, he writes

Dr Ridge also emphasises the continuing importance of the vaccination programme and calls on pharmacists to remind patients and members of the public in the at-risk groups that the vaccine is available from their GP.

He indicates that swine flu is expected to be the predominant flu virus in the 2010 flu season, which, he writes, may come earlier than usual. “There is also a risk that the genetic composition of the pandemic H1N1 (2009) will drift during its passage through the world and return to the UK to cause a more severe illness,” he explains. He adds that the adjuvant pandemic vaccine has major advantages because it confers a higher level of immunity, may give long lasting immunity and is likely to protect against drifted strains.