A new report has found that swine flu is less deadly than originally feared.

The UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, has reported that the swine flu epidemic is less lethal than first anticipated, causing the death of 26 out of every 100,000 people – just 0.026% – who contract the virus.

Statistically, swine flu compares favourably in terms of mortality when compared to other flu pandemics of the 20th century. However, only two thirds of people who contracted the virus were in the groups eligible for the vaccination, meaning one third were left vulnerable.

Sir Liam told the BBC: “We think we’ve hit this virus very, very hard and it could be a factor in why we’ve seen a relatively low number of deaths compared to the past.”

The report concluded: “Our data support the priority vaccination of high risk groups. We observed delayed antiviral use in most fatal cases, which suggests an opportunity to reduce deaths by making timely antiviral treatment available, although the lack of a control group limits the ability to extrapolate from this observation.

“Given that a substantial minority of deaths occur in previously healthy people, there is a case for extending the vaccination programme and for continuing to make early antiviral treatment widely available.”

The Department of Health (DH) recorded 11,000 new cases of swine flu in the UK last week, a significant decrease (50%) from the previous week of 22,000, while the Health Protection Agency estimates there have been around 795,000 cases reported since the pandemic began.

On 8 December, the DH announced that local practices may now vaccinate children between the ages of six months and five years. Andy Burnham, UK Health Secretary, said: “It is disappointing that we have not been able to come to a national agreement with GPs to vaccinate children from six months to five years old. But we are now getting on with the job and asking local health trusts to put local plans in place so that vaccination of these children can begin seamlessly.”

The report by Sir Liam is published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).