Flu hits England early: Health chiefs call for parents to get children vaccinated NOW as intensive care admissions are three times higher than last two winters
- Data released today showed 212 people rushed into ICU with influenza this year
- Health officials have urged kids to get jabs after figure shot up from 75 in in 2018
- As many as 80% of nursery children and primary schools pupils not yet had them
Parents are being urged to get their children vaccinated immediately after figures revealed the number of intensive care admissions for the flu had tripled in a year.
Data released today revealed 212 people in England have been rushed into ICU with influenza so far this year – up from 75 in 2018 and 63 the year before.
The alarming figures indicate the deadly flu season has struck the country earlier than normal.
It has prompted panicked health officials to tell families with young children to ‘get them vaccinated now’.
Experts are worried that the early arrival of the flu season is a sign that it will be severe and protracted, causing chaos for the NHS.
Rates of the norovirus are also at their highest in five years – fuelling fears the winter bugs could put unprecedented pressure on the already-stretched health service.
Data released today revealed there had been triple the number of intensive care admissions for flu this year as in 2018 and 2017 (stock)
Panicked health officials have urged parents to get their children immunised because just a fifth of two and three-year-olds have so far received their nasal spray vaccination (stock)
Thousands of vulnerable patients have not yet been immunised, including 80 per cent of nursery children and primary school pupils.
Many GP surgeries and pharmacies have only just received deliveries of the children’s nasal spray inoculations following a supply glitch with the manufacturers.
The latest weekly data from Public Health England (PHE) show the hospitalisation rate from flu has doubled in a week – from 2.8 admissions per 100,000 to 4.31.
The injected flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to people who are at risk.
This includes:
Over-65s and people with diabetes and chronic respiratory conditions, such as asthma.
People with serious heart or kidney disease, or people undergoing cancer treatment are also eligible.
Parents with children aged over six months with asthma or diabetes or weakened immunity due to disease or treatment are also being encouraged to bring them into GP surgeries for a free jab.
Other groups include residents in long-stay care homes and people who have lowered immunity due to HIV or are on steroid medication.
NHS workers are also urged to get a free flu jab in order to protect patients.
Flu is not normally life-threatening for healthy people, and the occasional bout of flu gives better long-term protection than a flu vaccination.
This is twenty times higher than the same time last year – yet just a fifth of two and three-year-olds have so far received their nasal spray vaccine.
The low uptake is largely due to a temporary supply problem with AstraZeneca, the nasal spray’s manufacturer.
Although these issues have since been resolved and stocks are being delivered to GP surgeries and pharmacies, the huge numbers of unvaccinated youngsters is a cause for concern.
Children are known as ‘super-spreaders’ because they tend to catch flu at school or nursery and pass it on to pregnant mothers or grandparents.
Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, head of flu at PHE said: ‘Flu season has now started and so it’s really important that people get their flu vaccine as soon as possible to ensure they are protected against this potentially very serious illness.
‘The initial evidence suggests the vaccine is a good match for the main strain of flu that is circulating.
‘Vaccination uptake in toddlers is lower than we would hope for at this point in the year due to previous delays in delivery of the vaccine, which are now resolved.
‘If you have children aged two to three go to your GP to get them vaccinated now.’ Children who are aged two and three are eligible for the flu vaccine nasal spray through their GP surgery.
People aged 65 and over, children and adults with underlying medical conditions and pregnant women are urged to get their free vaccine in the next few weeks.
It is the first time officials have expanded the vaccination programme to include all Year Six children, meaning an extra 600,000 children could be protected.
It came after health leaders anticipated a difficult flu season due to an unprecedented outbreak that has rocked Australia.
Almost 293,000 flu cases were recorded in Australia in 2019, with the outbreak beginning to take hold in March.
Australia’s flu season usually lasts begins in May and lasts until October, with their outbreaks normally peaking in August.
The flu season in the UK and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere tends to mirror what has happened in the Southern Hemisphere.
Across the Atlantic, the US has also been caught off-guard by an early flu season.
Four children and scores more adults have died from the virus in the last two months.
The most recent weekly flu report, ending November 17, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found high levels of flu-like illness (pictured) in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas, with the highest levels reported in Mississippi
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not release a concrete figure on the number of adult deaths so far this season.
But it warned Americans to be braced for a severe outbreak of flu from this month until May 2020.
Since September, adult deaths have been reported in Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, and California, including one person ahed 25 to 49 years old, one over the age of 50, and most over the age of 65.
Meanwhile, rates of people coming down with flu-like illness are soaring, particularly in the Deep South.
The most recent weekly flu report, ending November 17, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found high levels in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas, with the highest levels reported in Mississippi.
CDC officials are urging Americans to get the flu shot before flu season takes hold.
In the UK, rates of the winter vomiting bug norovirus are also at their highest in five years and dozens of schools have been forced to close.
Bays on six wards have been closed at Southampton General Hospital, official said, to contain a norovirus outbreak
Parkside School in Bradford (pictured) closed on Tuesday for a deep clean after more than 15 per cent of its pupils and staff were struck down with an illness believed to be norovirus
NOROVIRUS OUTBREAKS CLOSING RECORD NUMBER OF HOSPITAL BEDS
Norovirus outbreaks have caused the NHS to shut more than 1,100 hospital beds in England in the last week.
Health chiefs are urging people to avoid visiting hospitals or their GP if they have the highly contagious bug, to avoid passing it on.
They said people should stay at home and wait at least 48 hours after symptoms pass to return to work or school.
The plea for sufferers to stay at home comes amid unprecedented pressure on the NHS, which experts say is ‘already pushed to its limits’.
Almost double the number of beds have been closed every day this week compared to last year, official figures show.
Norovirus spreads rapidly in hospitals and schools because people are in close quarters, while children can forget to practice proper hygiene.
Outbreaks of the virus have caused the NHS to shut more than 1,100 hospital beds in England in the last week.
People have been told to avoid visiting hospitals or their GP if they have the highly contagious bug, so they don’t pass it on.
Health chiefs said people should stay at home and wait at least 48 hours after symptoms pass to return to work or school.
It comes amid unprecedented pressure on the NHS, which experts say is ‘already pushed to its limits’.
Almost double the number of beds have been closed every day this week compared to last year, official figures show.
Dozens of schools across Britain have also been forced to shut due to a flurry of outbreaks of the winter vomiting bug
Norovirus spreads rapidly in hospitals and schools because people are in close quarters, while children can forget to practice proper hygiene.
Dozens of schools around the country were shut last week after outbreaks of the virus.
Students from Howden School in Goole, East Yorkshire, were reportedly sent home last Monday and told not to return until Thursday.
While Parkside School in nearby Bradford closed on Tuesday for a deep clean after more than 15 per cent of its pupils and staff were struck down.
Some schools in Northern Ireland have seen more than 100 pupils off sick at a time.
Around a quarter of the 360 pupils at Clandeboye Primary in Bangor, County Down, are off sick. The school has been closed today.
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