NSW swine flu cases top 1,200
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There are now more than 1,200 confirmed cases across NSW. (ABC News: file photo)
The number of swine flu cases in New South Wales has jumped more than 25 per cent in four days.
The New South Wales Health Department says there are now over 1,200 confirmed cases across the state, up from 950 on July 1.
Dr Paul Armstrong says there are more cases than what has been reported.
"As the virus does spread across the community, those numbers just become too difficult to count," he said.
"[As] we move towards something that's more measurable ... like measuring the number of cases presenting to emergency departments and people who are hospitalised.
"So although those numbers are increasing, we think they're increasing much faster than that across New South Wales and indeed across the country."
There are now more than 140 swine flu patients in hospital, up from 56 on July 1.
Dr Armstrong says of those, eight are in intensive care.
"We expect it to continue to rise at this rate, and because they're in hospital they're obviously got quite severe disease," he said.
There are more than 5,200 cases of swine flu in Australia and 10 people have died from the illness.
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