78,000 people in England have contracted swine flu in the past week

Around 78,000 people contracted swine flu in England in the past week, the Health Protection Agency has revealed.

The number represents a leap from the 53,000 recorded in the week before that, but falls short of July's 100,000 peak.

The news comes at the same time as the Government's announcement that people at high risk from swine flu would hopefully receive their vaccinations by mid-December.

Ian Dalton, national director for flu resilience, said all GPs in England should have their first box of 500 doses in the next three to four weeks.

More than 11 million people in England are eligible for the jab because they fall into at-risk groups.

Mr Dalton said there were millions of people to vaccinate and so it would take some time to get round to everybody.

There are currently 751 people in hospital with the virus, of which 157 are in intensive care.

A total of 137 people have died from swine flu in the UK - 97 in England, 25 in Scotland, eight in Northern Ireland and seven in Scotland.

The Government's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said there had been a "very substantial increase" in the number of cases, but added the number was was not a bad as previous levels.

"We are seeing a level of activity in the community which has not yet reached anywhere near the levels we were seeing in July," he said.