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，英国大多数公司并没有受到甲型流感爆发的影响，这一发现加剧了人们的担心：这种流感病毒可能会使英国刚刚出现的经济复苏迹象中途夭折。

但是，英国商会（BBC）对450家公司的调查发现，尽管不断受到甲型流感有可能在秋季出现第二波爆发浪潮的警告，但仅有不到一半的公司准备好了应对流感蔓延持续恶化的紧急预案。

这是第一份就这一问题所作的报告。该报告声称，83.7%的企业还没有受到甲型流感蔓延的影响，只有三分之一的企业认为，这种疾病会威胁英国经济的复苏。

结果就是，许多企业并没有为一旦出现大批员工因感染H1N1病毒而离职休养的局面拟定好紧急应对预案。

人们一直担心的是，如果流感迅速蔓延，许多企业、商铺和分销中心可能会被迫关闭。航空公司和其他交通部门也无法正常运行。

BBC的发现驳斥了工人正在用甲型流感作为请病假借口的言论。有事实证据表明，如果员工出现流感症状，雇主很可能会让他们离职休养。

英国劳工联合会议（TUC）秘书长布伦丹？巴伯（Brendan Barber）说："这项调查表明，与有些人一直声称的情况相反，工人们并没有将甲型流感作为请假休息的借口。"

他呼吁雇主，不要仅仅因为感染率在近几周出现下降，而放松了对甲型流感的警惕。英国政府首席医务官利亚姆·唐纳森爵士（Sir Liam Donaldson）不断发出警告：甲型流感会在秋季出现第二波爆发浪潮。

巴伯表示："雇主应该利用这个机会和员工携手，以确保他们制定好应对流感在秋季可能集中爆发的紧急预案。"

一位BBC发言人称："我们还没有看到员工因为甲型流感而集体旷工的证据。"但他表示，政府在制定预案时需要特别注意的是，应该在没有医生证明的情况下，准许感染甲型流感的员工离职休息14天，而不是7天。

医生们在一周开始时会遇到大量病人。唐纳森表示，英国全国流感服务中心（National Pandemic Flu Service for England）在周一接到的病患电话最多。

但他并不认为工人们在装病："我想人们通常会在周末隐忍住自己的病情，然后在周一看医生。"

学校开学在即，卫生当局正全力做好应对甲型流感再次爆发的准备。在专家声称，关闭学校并不会减少感染流感的人数，只会将感染人数分散在一个更长的时间段之后，英国和美国政府表示，除非出现特殊的情况，政府不会关闭学校。