27 January 2011 Last updated at 09:24 ET

Fall in flu levels 'continuing'

By Nick Triggle Health reporter, BBC News

Children have been particularly hard hit in this winter's outbreak

Flu levels have continued to fall in the past week with swine flu no longer even the dominant strain in circulation.

The numbers of people going to their GP with flu is now a third of what it was at its peak over Christmas, the Health Protection Agency data showed.

The outbreak had been driven by the swine flu virus, but cases have fallen recently.

The number of deaths linked to flu now stands at 338.

That is up from 254 last week, but the majority of those deaths did not occur during the past seven days. Instead, it has been taking labs several weeks to identify the reasons for deaths.

The GP data for England showed flu consultations stood at 41 per 100,000 people - a fall from just over 66 last week. Rates also fell across the rest of the UK.

Professor John Watson, from the HPA, said: "We appear to be over the peak of activity."

The fall has also seen the swine flu virus eased out as the dominant strain.

There are three types circulating this winter and strain B is now the most common.

But despite the reduction in cases the overall levels are still higher than what would be expected during a normal winter.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the government's interim chief medical officer, said: "Winter isn't over yet and we still all need to be on our guard against flu."