by Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent & Jessica Jaganathan

THE H1N1 flu bug is spreading like wildfire, more than doubling the number of people down with influenza.

With the outbreak set to peak in the next week or two, polyclinic attendances for upper respiratory tract infections have shot past epidemic levels - pegged at 16,665 cases a week - for the first time in more than three years.

Polyclinic attendances are a yardstick for the number of infectious diseases, such as flu, diarrhoea and conjunctivitis, in the wider community.

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