Swine flu cases in England drop

British officials say swine flu cases in England dropped slightly last week, with about 53,000 new cases.

In a statement Tuesday, experts guessed there were about 64,000 new cases the week before. The numbers are only estimates and have a wide margin of error.

Britain also announced Thursday it would start offering the swine flu vaccine to healthy children under five, besides those already being vaccinated, mainly people with other health problems. While swine flu is mild in most people, it has hit children and young people disproportionately hard.

Since the virus was first detected in Britain last spring, there have been more than 700,000 reported cases.