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There were 100,000 new cases of swine flu in England last week, nearly double the number from the previous seven days, authorities announced Friday.

Children 14 or younger were those predominantly affected, with those older than 65 showing much lower rates, the Department of Health said in its weekly swine flu update.

Most cases continue to be mild, the department said, but a small minority are severe.

The last weekly update showed 55,000 new cases. There is no figure for the week before that, but for the week ended July 3, there were 2,798 new cases. There were 1,442 new cases the week before that, according to department figures.

The Department of Health obtained the data from doctor’s offices that report their consultations for flu-like or other acute respiratory illnesses. It said consultation rates at doctor’s offices had risen sharply in the past week.

There are 840 patients hospitalized with swine flu in England, the department said.