Around 100,000 new cases of swine flu were diagnosed in Britain in the last week, officials said Thursday, as millions rushed to consult a new website to identify symptoms and order drugs.

At least 30 deaths have so far been linked to swine flu here, 26 in England and four in Scotland, according to the latest update from the Department of Health.

The figure is unchanged on the previous week. A further 840 people are in hospital in England, including 63 in intensive care, chief medical officer Liam Donaldson told reporters.

The concern felt by many over swine flu was reflected in what the government said was "unprecedented demand" for the new site, which launched at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT) and was soon receiving 2,600 hits per second or 9.3 million an hour.

The website crashed within minutes of launching, according to media reports, but appeared to be working normally late Thursday.

Donaldson accepted that the rise in new cases — almost double last week's figure of 55,000 — was a "substantial increase" but stressed the majority of patients suffer only mild symptoms.

He told the BBC many people were probably logging on to the site out of "curiosity", adding : "It will calm down and then people with genuine flu symptoms will be able to use the system and they will get their drugs quickly and efficiently."

Britain is the worst-hit country in Europe by the A(H1N1) virus, which was first identified in Mexico. It gave up attempts at containment early on and is now focusing on the best way to treat infected patients.

The new Internet and telephone service, which Prime Minister Gordon Brown has described as the first of its kind in the world, also allows prescription of drugs remotely.

Around 1,500 people are working on the telephone hotline, which can take over 200,000 calls per day.

However, the most serious cases — including pregnant women, people with health conditions and very young children — will be referred to a doctor.

Donaldson conceded last week that the system could be abused by those who wanted to stockpile Tamiflu, but noted each user could only be diagnosed once, and added: "We have to trust in the public that they won't."

On Thursday, he explained the lack of change in the death toll since last week was due to a new analysis process, which eliminated some people previously thought to have died from the virus and added an equal number of new cases.

"It is the same numerically but some have gone in and some have gone out," Donaldson said, without giving exact numbers.

According to figures released Thursday, 16 percent of the deaths linked to the virus so far were in completely healthy people, which Donaldson described as "an encouraging figure, in that it is a minority".

About 67 percent of the deaths were in people with severe health problems such as leukaemia, 11 percent with moderate conditions such as diabetes and six percent in those with mild conditions such as high blood pressure.

Young people aged under 14 continue to be hit hardest by the virus. One third of the deaths so far have been among the under 15s.

earlier related report

Britain steps up swine flu fight as drug sales soar

Britain on Thursday rolled out new battle plans to fight swine flu as cases soared and drugs giant Roche said it expected to sell another 900 million dollars' worth of an anti-viral drug by year's end.

Britain launched an Internet and phone service to help people identify symptoms of A(H1N1) virus and order drugs, as health officials disclosed 100,000 new cases were diagnosed in England in the past week.

The new swine flu website was flooded by what the government called "unprecedented demand" with around 9.3 million hits an hour after its launch at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT).

England's chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson told the BBC many people were probably logging on to the site out of "curiosity", adding: "It will calm down and then people with genuine flu symptoms will be able to use the system and they will get their drugs quickly and efficiently."

Britain is the worst-hit country in Europe, with 30 deaths so far linked to swine flu.

Sales of Tamiflu, meanwhile, soared 203 percent in the first six months of 2009, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said.

The company said it would sell another 658 million euros (937 million dollars) of anti-flu drug Tamiflu by the end of 2009, having already sold a similar amount in the year to July.

"Additional government stockpiling orders and increased demand in the retail pharmacy market contributed to the particularly strong sales recorded in the second quarter," it added.

Roche said it would be ramping up its production capacity of Tamiflu — one of two drugs recommended by the World Health Organisation to treat the A(H1N1) virus — to 400 million packs annually by 2010.

In France, which has put in an advance order for 90 million vaccines, people with flu symptoms were told not to check into hospital or call the emergency services but to contact their normal family doctor.

The order was made last month, but came into effect Thursday, and general practitioners will be charged with writing prescriptions for flu drugs and masks.

In Paraguay, the health ministry confirmed three new swine flu deaths on Wednesday, bringing to 13 the total number of victims from the outbreak in the South American country.

Paraguay is currently in the midst of the southern hemisphere's winter.

Latin America has seen two thirds of swine flu deaths, with some 480 deaths out of more than 700 confirmed worldwide since late April.

In Britain, the rate at which cases are being recorded has jumped sharply, with 100,000 new cases confirmed in the past week compared to 55,000 the week before, according to the Department of Health.

A total of 840 people are in hospital in England, including 63 in intensive care, chief medical officer Donaldson told reporters.

The new British hotline has sparked concern that some people without the virus might seek to obtain Tamiflu as a precaution.

To prevent abuse, users will have to give personal details and receive a unique identification number, ensuring that they are only able to receive one prescription, he noted.

Sufferers will be able to access the service online or by telephone to take the pressure off conventional health services which have been deluged with cases, although most have been mild.

The new hotline is manned by about 1,500 non-medical staff who use a checklist of questions to reach a diagnosis.

They can prescribe anti-viral drug Tamiflu, although the most serious cases — including pregnant women, people with health conditions and babies — will still be referred to a doctor.

Also in Britain, the Church of England urged bishops to stop sharing wine at communion services, because of the risk of spreading swine flu.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York John Sentamu have written to Anglican bishops to recommend they stop the congregation sipping from the same chalice until the pandemic is over.

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