More cases of H1N1 swine flu are to be expected in Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's center for infectious diseases.

There were 2,455 confirmed cases of swine flu in Germany on Wednesday, 637 more were reported on Tuesday. The current number of infections represents an increase of nearly 30 percent in two days. On July 15, there were just 834 cases, officials from the institute told reporters on Thursday.

"We see it this way: the increase is worrisome for us, but not a reason to panic," RKI head Joerg Hacker told the dpa news agency.

Most of the cases in Germany were mild but "serious cases could arise, as they have in other countries," RKI Vice President Reinhard Burger told German public broadcaster SWR.

The increase in infections is largely due to people returning from vacation with the virus, Hacker said, adding that about 20 percent of Germans diagnosed with the virus caught it in Germany.

"The general rule applies that when a lot of people gather in a small area there's a chance of infection," Hacker added.

Burger called on people to follow simple personal hygiene procedures, including washing their hands often with soap and warm water, to slow the virus' spread.

"The virus can be spread through contact, so measures like regular hand washing and, particularly, avoiding touching the eyes, nose and mouth, are very important," he said.

Pharmaceutical sales up

Anticipating that the virus will continue to spread around the globe, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Thursday it would sell another 658 million euros worth of anti-flu drug Tamiflu by the end of 2009, having already sold a similar amount this year.

"Additional government stockpiling orders and increased demand in the retail pharmacy market contributed to the particularly strong sales recorded in the second quarter," the company said in a statement.

The group expected to sell "around 1 billion (Swiss) francs" more of the drug, one of two recommended by the World Health Organization to treat swine flu, Roche chief executive Severin Schwan told journalists.

GlaxoSmithKline said sales of Relenza, the other drug approved for use in swine flu cases, had also increased.

"GSK now expects to increase its annual production capacity of Relenza to 190 million treatment courses by the end of 2009. This represents a threefold increase to GSK's previous maximum capacity of 60 million treatment courses," the company said in a statement.

sms/AFP/dpa/Reuters

Editor: R. Balasubramanyam