Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

Thursday January 13 2011

Patients will die due to the spread of swine flu in overcrowded emergency departments, doctors warned yesterday, writes Eilish O'Regan. The doctors said it was inevitable that cross-infection would put lives at risk.

The doctors said they were denied the basic facilities to isolate patients with the flu.

There were 492 patients on trolleys yesterday -- just three short of the number Health Minister Mary Harney declared a national emergency in 2006.

"This scenario will result in death and adverse conditions for vulnerable patients -- an outcome which is all the more tragic as the situation is both foreseeable and preventable," said the doctors' spokesman, Dr John McInerney.

He said they were calling for the immediate opening of closed beds.

A failure to grasp the nettle and deal with the overcrowding issue "will result in unnecessary fatalities and adverse outcomes as the impact of swine flu worsens", he said.

Thursday, 13 January 2011 11:41AM GMT | General


There is no shortage of safe and effective vaccine, Chief Medical Officer Flickr: fifikins
A briefing by the Public Health Authority has confirmed that 17 have died from swine flu in Northern Ireland, two with no underlying health problems.
A media briefing was held for the first time since weekly meetings when the pandemic hit the country in 2009.

The PHA confirmed that there were 204 confirmed cases of swine flu in the first week of January. This was compared to 200 cases in the last week of December.

The health agency said that although swine flu was continuing to circulate, the rate of cases was slowing down.

They confirmed that 17 people have died from H1N1 flu during the current flu season.
Of the 17 people who died, 14 had underlying medical conditions, two did not have any underlying condition and one is to be confirmed. The two who died who had no underlying health problems were both adults.

Dr Carolyn Harper, Director of Public Health for Northern Ireland, said: "In the UK last year, around 23% of people, who died from swine flu, had no underlying conditions. The current figure here is now 13%."

She said the pattern of swine flu was no different than in other parts of the UK.

People in the ‘at risk’ categories were urged to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the virus.

Chief Executive of the Health and Social Care Board, Mr John Compton outlined the position with regards to the impact of flu and seasonal winter pressures on health and social care services.

Mr Compton, said: “The service continues to be busy with flu and seasonal winter pressures continuing to pose a challenge, however these pressures are being effectively managed across Northern Ireland and normal escalation arrangements are in place to cope with any expected demands at this time.”

He continued: “The position, as of Wednesday, 12 January 2011, is that 30 out of 83 adult critical care patients and four out of 8 paediatric critical care patients are being treated for flu.

Of all patients being treated in hospital in Northern Ireland today, approximately three per cent have been confirmed with swine flu or are suspected as having it. This is not unusual at this time of year when flu is most prevalent.”

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride said that there is no shortage of safe and effective vaccines to protect against swine flu.

Published on Thu Jan 13 13:31:03 GMT 2011


EIGHTY operations were postponed this week at Sheffield Children’s Hospital to make way for patients with flu and other respiratory illnesses.


As hospitals across the country respond to high levels of seasonal flu, including swine flu, managers in Sheffield were contacting parents to rearrange the non-urgent operations “as soon as possible”.

Isabel Hemmings, chief operating officer at the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Intensive care has been busy in the last two weeks but this is not unexpected for the time of year as we usually have additional patients in the winter months.

“We have taken the decision to postpone approximately 80 elective – planned – operations this week including those patients who need to stay in critical care following their operation. This is to help manage a very busy workload for our dedicated and hard-working staff.

“The postponed operations also include day case surgery – where patients do not need an overnight stay – which will resume at the end of the week.”

Mrs Hemmings added: “The vast majority of children recover quickly from flu viruses including swine flu (H1N1) and do not require hospital admission.

“However, there are a small number of children usually with underlying health issues, who may require hospital admission. Some of these children are more seriously ill and need intensive care. Anyone who is concerned about flu symptoms should contact their GP, who will determine the most appropriate action to take.”

Meanwhile the flu vaccination programme is being extended in line with direction from the Government’s Department of Health.
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Swine flu alarm
Death of boy (4) linked to virus Garda escort needed to transfer victim (32) to Cork Strict visitor restrictions at hospital

Wednesday January 12 2011

WEXFORD Hospital is on severe swine flu alert this week after the illness may have contributed to the death of a four-year-old boy, and a Garda escort was needed to transfer another patient when his condition worsened.

THERE has been a suspected swine flu outbreak in Cloverhill Prison.

One prisoner has been taken to hospital but sources told the Herald that there are at least five suspected swine flu cases at the prison.

A spokesperson for the IPS said they are continuing to liaise with the HSE over a possible swine flu outbreak.

"A number of cases have presented with influenza-like illnesses in Cloverhill Prison," he said.

"The advice from HSE Public Health indicates that 'this year the predominant flu virus is the H1N1 virus known as swine flu'.

"The IPS continues to engage regularly with Public Health to ensure that any suspected case is treated appropriately.

A number of prisoners have been placed on quarantine and have limited human contact since falling ill, say sources.

Health Minister Mary Harney has told the Dáil that the waiting times in hospital emergency departments in the first week in January were unacceptable.

Health Minister Mary Harney has told the Dáil that the waiting times in hospital emergency departments in the first week in January were unacceptable.

Ms Harney, who came under sustained criticism for her absence during the period, said she regretted the delays.

She and added that she had discussed plans with the Health Service Executive, who assured the minister that waiting times would be improved.

Fine Gael's Health Spokesperson James Reilly said the average number waiting for beds had increased to an average of 464 each day this year, and had peaked at 569 on one day.

Deputy Reilly said patients were being put at risk of cross infection, especially with the increased incidence of swine flu in recent weeks.

He said it was Mary Harney's legacy as Health Minister.

Minister Harney accused Mr Reilly of scaremongering. She said there had been huge improvements in the context of huge increase in the numbers of people visiting hospital emergency departments.

Labour's Health Spokesperson Jan O'Sullivan asked why the minister would not sanction the opening of new beds for the current period.

Mary Harney said there was no money, and that the beds had to be staffed.

SEVENTY children under four years of age have been hospitalised with flu -- six of these have been admitted to intensive care.

Children make up the single biggest group in the country suffering from the severe effects of swine flu and other strains of the virus, which has killed two people -- a man in the east of the country and a woman in the west.

One of the people who died was in the 15-64 age group and one was over 65 years. Both patients had underlying medical conditions.

As flu rates double to record levels in the past week, it has emerged that a total of 87 children under the age of 14 have been admitted to hospital.

All of the six children taken into intensive care were all up to four years of age and five of them are still being treated in ICU. The rate of flu in this age group is more than double that of any other group.

In addition, 38 pregnant women have been infected with flu and 21 of them had to be hospitalised -- 20 with swine flu and one with another form of the virus.

Flu has now hit 9,130 people and 393 of these have been admitted to hospital. In 72 people the symptoms were so serious they needed intensive care and at least 42 of this group continue to be treated for serious complications.

They include 37 adults and five children.

Government chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said hospitals had been told to open additional beds where needed to cope with the volume of patients needing intensive care.

He admitted that overcrowding in A&E left patients at a high risk of cross-infection and said that hospitals should move patients from trolleys in emergency units to wards to reduce that risk.

The rate of flu-like illness has jumped from 204 per 100,000 population compared with 114 the previous week.

Eight in 10 of these cases have been diagnosed with swine flu and the rest have different strains of the virus, according to the latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.

Dr Kevin Kelleher, head of health protection in the HSE, said family doctors will be given additional stocks of last year's swine flu vaccine by today.

They will also receive more seasonal flu vaccine -- which also protects against other strains -- in the next week or two.

The number of calls to GP out of hours services for flu reached the highest recorded levels during the week

By Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent


Saturday January 15 2011

A TEAM of experts has been drafted in to sort out hospitals where A&E overcrowding and trolley gridlock is worst, it emerged yesterday.

Health Minister Mary Harney said around "five or six " hospitals still had problems with overcrowding and that a team of experts from here and the UK had been dispatched to assess the problem.

She said the first hospitals to be visited were Beaumont in Dublin, Limerick Regional Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda, with Tallaght Hospital next in line.

Yesterday, there was little respite in the trolley crisis with 425 patients waiting, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. There were 25 people waiting in Beaumont, 12 in Limerick Regional and 14 in Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda.
The Drogheda hospital has had to cope with high numbers despite putting all non-emergency operations on hold for January.

The chief medical officer of the Department of Health, Tony Holohan, has admitted that this level of emergency overcrowding has increased the risks of swine flu and other contagious diseases spreading.

Meanwhile, Waterford Regional Hospital announced yesterday it was putting a "complete ban" on visiting due to the increase in flu-like illnesses, and it also confirmed cases of the winter vomiting bug.

Strict visitor restrictions have been introduced at Cork University Hospital to prevent further spread of swine flu.

Nearly one in three swine flu patients who are seriously ill in hospital intensive care units had no previous health problems, it has emerged.

Although vaccines are only recommended for at-risk groups -- that is, those who have underlying conditions -- swine flu is also continuing to cause life-threatening complications in people who were otherwise healthy.

Fighting

There are 42 people fighting the flu in intensive care units, including a small number of children.

Around 70pc were suffering from such illnesses as respiratory disease, heart disease, diabetes, or they were pregnant. Medics said the advice from the national immunisation advisory committee was that only these at-risk groups needed to be given the flu jab for free -- guidelines which other European countries follow.

Ireland is currently seeing the highest rates of flu on record with two deaths this winter.

Most are suffering from swine flu but other strains are also a risk, including influenza B. However, GPs are being told to reserve the seasonal flu vaccine for pregnant women, children and teenagers.

All other groups are being offered the old swine flu vaccine, although more supplies of the seasonal jab are due in the next two weeks.

- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent

Boy, 2, dies after suffering from swine flu
The Public Health Agency has urged people to take sensible precautions to help prevent the spread of the virus

The Department of Health has confirmed that a two-year-old boy who was suffering from swine flu has died.

It is not yet known if the child, who was from the Irish Republic but was being treated in NI, had an underlying health condition.

The health minister has offered his condolences to the boy's family.

Eighteen people have died in NI after suffering from the H1N1 virus. Two of those who have died have been confirmed to have had no underlying condition.

Vaccines against the virus are currently only available to people in certain at risk groups.

The health minister, Michael McGimpsey, said he understood the news might heighten public anxiety particularly among parents of young children.

He added: "I have recently spoken to other UK health ministers about Northern Ireland's current flu picture. I have also spoken to Mary Harney, the Republic of Ireland's Health Minister.

"In addition, I have consulted with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation about the particular circumstances here.

"They do not recommend extending the vaccination programme beyond the current at risk groups."

During the pandemic last year, 19 people died from the H1N1 virus, all but one of whom had an underlying condition.

The authorities were unable to establish whether the other victim, a pregnant woman, had an unknown underlying health problem which may have contributed to her death.