tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
GROWING numbers are being hospitalised with swine flu, some of whom are so ill they have been admitted to intensive care.
And GPs are reporting that the volume of patients seeking treatment for flu-like illnesses almost doubled in the week before Christmas.
The highest rates of illness are being seen in children under five years of age and young people -- but like last winter, the elderly appear to be escaping the worst effects of swine flu.
Since the beginning of this month, notifications to the disease watchdog, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), have jumped.
There were 50 confirmed cases up to December 21, mostly due to the swine flu virus which was at the centre of the worldwide pandemic alert last year.
So far this winter, at least 14 people have been hospitalised with swine flu, including five pregnant women.
...
Despite the surge in cases, Irish experts have said the level of flu infection here is around "normal" for this stage of winter. The rate at which people are seeking treatment from their doctor for symptoms of the illness is only half what it was this time last year.
The rate of reported flu-like illness is around 24.1 per 100,000 -- compared to 201.1 per 100,000 during November 2009, at the height of last winter's epidemic.
http://www.independent.ie/national-...s-rises-as-patients-hospitalised-2474878.html
And GPs are reporting that the volume of patients seeking treatment for flu-like illnesses almost doubled in the week before Christmas.
The highest rates of illness are being seen in children under five years of age and young people -- but like last winter, the elderly appear to be escaping the worst effects of swine flu.
Since the beginning of this month, notifications to the disease watchdog, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), have jumped.
There were 50 confirmed cases up to December 21, mostly due to the swine flu virus which was at the centre of the worldwide pandemic alert last year.
So far this winter, at least 14 people have been hospitalised with swine flu, including five pregnant women.
...
Despite the surge in cases, Irish experts have said the level of flu infection here is around "normal" for this stage of winter. The rate at which people are seeking treatment from their doctor for symptoms of the illness is only half what it was this time last year.
The rate of reported flu-like illness is around 24.1 per 100,000 -- compared to 201.1 per 100,000 during November 2009, at the height of last winter's epidemic.
http://www.independent.ie/national-...s-rises-as-patients-hospitalised-2474878.html
