THE number of cases of swine flu in south Essex is rising rapidly, but health bosses say they have been planning for the pandemic for the past two years.

There have now been 31 deaths in the UK, including one at Basildon Hospital, and across the country, plans are being drawn up to tackle the problem.

Centres have been set up across south Essex as focal points for dealing with the outbreak.

The Echo was granted an exclusive tour of one of these centres, in London Road, Leigh, where the fight to contain the disease is being waged.

Inside, a security guard keeps a watchful eye on the stocks of Tamiflu.

Health chiefs insist the security guard is not a new measure at the centre where flu friends – friends or relatives of a person diagnosed with swine flu – now come to collect the drug, which helps reduce the length of the illness and relieves some of the symptoms.

But the primary care trust, NHS South East Essex, has made it clear, only people diagnosed with swine flu over the telephone, by their GP, will be able to get a prescription for the drug.

Liesel Park, associate director of public health at the trust, said: “We have been planning for two years for a flu pandemic. We thought it would be avian flu, but it’s swine flu. It’s a new virus and we’re not sure how it will behave. But we are ready to react to it.

“It’s not having a major effect on the elderly, who usually get seasonal flu. But we are seeing cases in younger people, young adults and children. The situation is changing daily.”

Margaret Gray, associate director of public health at the trust, which covers Southend, Rochford and Castle Point, said the centre could expand as the virus spreads.

She said: “We can take over the entire ground floor of the centre as demand increases, and more people get swine flu.

“There are more rooms available for us to use and more staff we can bring in to issue the Tamiflu and to advise people.”

Staff at the centre are seeing steadily increasing numbers of people visiting to collect Tamiflu.

Currently, it has two rooms set aside for flu friends and a third room from where four NHS staff dispense the drug.

Health bosses are aiming to calm the panic surrounding the outbreak, but with an ever-rising number of cases, people can be forgiven for being fearful. Most of the people who have died so far have had underlying health conditions, but the victim at Basildon Hospital, a man in his thirties, was the country’s first victim with no other medical problems.

Mrs Gray added: “We need to reinforce the good hand hygiene message, for people to keep washing their hands and the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it.’ “We’re confident we have a robust process here.

“People are seen quickly. If they are worried about their relative, they can talk to a clinician. They’re given Tamiflu and can get back to their loved one.

“For vulnerable people who don’t have a flu friend there is a special service where we can get drugs to them.”