Most companies in Britain have not been affected by the outbreak of swine flu, research has found, compounding fears that the virus could derail the country's fledgling economic recovery.

    But the survey of 450 companies by the British Chambers of Commerce （BCC） found that fewer than half of firms had contingency plans in place to cope if the swine flu outbreak gets worse, despite warnings of a second wave in the autumn.

    The report, the first of its kind, said 83.7% of businesses had not been affected by the spread of swine flu and only a third believed the disease could threaten the UK's recovery from recession.

    As a result, many have failed to draw up contingency plans for dealing with large numbers of workers taking time off if they contract the H1N1 virus.

    There had been fears that businesses, shops and distribution centres could be forced to shut if the virus spread rapidly. Airlines and other transport services could also be disrupted.

    The BCC's findings refute claims that workers are using the virus as an excuse to take sick days. Anecdotal evidence shows employers are more likely to tell staff to stay away if they have symptoms.

    The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: "This shows that, contrary to what some have been claiming, workers are not using swine flu as an excuse to take time off work."

    He called on employers not to become complacent about the threat to their staff simply because infection levels had declined in recent weeks. The government's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, has repeatedly warned of a second wave of swine flu in the autumn.

    Barber said: "Employers should be using this time to work with their staff to ensure they have contingency plans in place to deal with any possible resurgence of the virus in the autumn."

    A BCC spokesman said: "We haven't seen any evidence of employees skiving en masse because of swine flu." But he said the government needed to exercise caution in its plans to allow employees infected with swine flu to stay off work for 14 days without a doctor's note, rather than seven days.

    GPs have been seeing a high number of patients at the start of the week and Donaldson said the National Pandemic Flu Service for England received most calls from patients on Mondays.

    But he shrugged off the idea that workers were faking sickness: "I think people traditionally hold on to their illnesses over the weekend, then see their GP on Monday."

    As schools reopen, health authorities are bracing themselves for another rise in swine flu. The UK and the US governments say they will not close schools except under exceptional circumstances after experts claimed closures did not reduce the number of cases, but spread them over a longer period.

    研究表明，英國大多數公司并沒有受到甲型流感爆發的影響，這一發現加劇了人們的擔心：這種流感病毒可能會使英國剛剛出現的經濟復蘇跡象中途夭折。

    但是，英國商會（BBC）對450家公司的調查發現，盡管不斷受到甲型流感有可能在秋季出現第二波爆發浪潮的警告，但僅有不到一半的公司準備好了應對流感蔓延持續惡化的緊急預案。

    這是第一份就這一問題所作的報告。該報告聲稱，83.7%的企業還沒有受到甲型流感蔓延的影響，只有三分之一的企業認為，這種疾病會威脅英國經濟的復蘇。

    結果就是，許多企業并沒有為一旦出現大批員工因感染H1N1病毒而離職休養的局面擬定好緊急應對預案。

    人們一直擔心的是，如果流感迅速蔓延，許多企業、商鋪和分銷中心可能會被迫關閉。航空公司和其他交通部門也無法正常運行。

    BBC的發現駁斥了工人正在用甲型流感作為請病假借口的言論。有事實證據表明，如果員工出現流感癥狀，雇主很可能會讓他們離職休養。

    英國勞工聯合會議（TUC）秘書長布倫丹？巴伯（Brendan Barber）說："這項調查表明，與有些人一直聲稱的情況相反，工人們并沒有將甲型流感作為請假休息的借口。"

    他呼吁雇主，不要僅僅因為感染率在近幾周出現下降，而放松了對甲型流感的警惕。英國政府首席醫務官利亞姆·唐納森爵士（Sir Liam Donaldson）不斷發出警告：甲型流感會在秋季出現第二波爆發浪潮。

    巴伯表示："雇主應該利用這個機會和員工攜手，以確保他們制定好應對流感在秋季可能集中爆發的緊急預案。"

    一位BBC發言人稱："我們還沒有看到員工因為甲型流感而集體曠工的證據。"但他表示，政府在制定預案時需要特別注意的是，應該在沒有醫生證明的情況下，準許感染甲型流感的員工離職休息14天，而不是7天。

    醫生們在一周開始時會遇到大量病人。唐納森表示，英國全國流感服務中心（National Pandemic Flu Service for England）在周一接到的病患電話最多。

    但他并不認為工人們在裝病："我想人們通常會在周末隱忍住自己的病情，然后在周一看醫生。"

    學校開學在即，衛生當局正全力做好應對甲型流感再次爆發的準備。在專家聲稱，關閉學校并不會減少感染流感的人數，只會將感染人數分散在一個更長的時間段之后，英國和美國政府表示，除非出現特殊的情況，政府不會關閉學校。