Ms Roxon says currently 123 people are hospitalised with swine flu and 58 of those are in intensive care - to date swine flu has been linked to the deaths of 20 Australians most of whom had underlying serious health issues - however there is some concern as in a few cases the disease has now started to severely affect otherwise healthy people.

In Britain where there has also been a spike in reported swine flu cases, 29 people have died and the number of new cases is now well over 55,000 and health authorities have promised a National Flu Service by the end of next week to relieve pressure on hospitals and GPs.

The flu service, a part of the government's pandemic contingency plans, will only be available in England, which has been worse hit by swine flu and will be manned by up to 2,000 call centre staff at any one time.

The call centre staff will use a checklist to diagnose whether the person calling has swine flu and will be able to give them a voucher number to get anti-viral drugs if they are believed to be infected.

The British government has warned that deaths from swine flu this winter could be between 19,000 and 65,000 in the UK but experts say it is impossible to predict the death toll.

In the United States President Barack Obama has earmarked $1.825 billion for emergency use to fight the new pandemic of H1N1 swine flu - that money will buy vaccine ingredients and help health officials plan immunization campaigns.

The WHO says at least 50 governments have placed orders for vaccines but one is not expected to be available for at least two months.