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Leicestershire's influenza outbreak 'is the worst in a decade'
By Cathy Buss Health Correspondent
Leicestershire is in the grip of a serious outbreak of influenza and respiratory disease.
Health experts believe it could be as bad as the flu epidemic of 1999-2000 when 22,000 people across the country died – 10 times the average for a winter flu season.
They are seeing increasing numbers of patients falling ill with different strains of the illness, including swine flu and the disease respiratory syncytial virus, which is known as RSV, to which children are especially vulnerable.
Dr Philip Monk, a public health consultant with the Health Protection Agency, said: "There is a lot of winter virus illness at the moment. It is very bad and could be as bad as 1999/2000."
"I couldn't begin to put a number on those affected. It began during the last week of November and, like a pandemic, it really gets going in the first four weeks. Weeks six to 10 are the worst, and then numbers begin to tail off again. This means the worst period will be as we enter the festive period."
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Doctors at Glenfield Hospital's intensive care unit are fighting to save the lives of five people from around the country who are seriously ill with swine flu, using their specialist Ecmo treatment unit.
The hospital is one of just five providing the treatment, which involves oxygenating a patient's blood outside of their body so their lungs can recover.
It means that non-emergency heart surgery has been cancelled at the hospital this week.
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Dr Monk advised people suffering from flu to stay at home, take Paracetamol and have warm drinks.
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Schools have been hard hit by the outbreak.
On Wednesday of last week, St Bartholomew's Primary School, Quorn, had 96 of its 362 pupils off sick.
Yesterday, 90 were off.
Head teacher Becky James said: "I've been at the school for 20 years and I've never known it this bad before. It's unprecedented.
"This time last winter, when we had all that really bad weather, there were only 26 off sick."
Read more: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.u...l/article.html
By Cathy Buss Health Correspondent
Leicestershire is in the grip of a serious outbreak of influenza and respiratory disease.
Health experts believe it could be as bad as the flu epidemic of 1999-2000 when 22,000 people across the country died – 10 times the average for a winter flu season.
They are seeing increasing numbers of patients falling ill with different strains of the illness, including swine flu and the disease respiratory syncytial virus, which is known as RSV, to which children are especially vulnerable.
Dr Philip Monk, a public health consultant with the Health Protection Agency, said: "There is a lot of winter virus illness at the moment. It is very bad and could be as bad as 1999/2000."
"I couldn't begin to put a number on those affected. It began during the last week of November and, like a pandemic, it really gets going in the first four weeks. Weeks six to 10 are the worst, and then numbers begin to tail off again. This means the worst period will be as we enter the festive period."
...
Doctors at Glenfield Hospital's intensive care unit are fighting to save the lives of five people from around the country who are seriously ill with swine flu, using their specialist Ecmo treatment unit.
The hospital is one of just five providing the treatment, which involves oxygenating a patient's blood outside of their body so their lungs can recover.
It means that non-emergency heart surgery has been cancelled at the hospital this week.
...
Dr Monk advised people suffering from flu to stay at home, take Paracetamol and have warm drinks.
...
Schools have been hard hit by the outbreak.
On Wednesday of last week, St Bartholomew's Primary School, Quorn, had 96 of its 362 pupils off sick.
Yesterday, 90 were off.
Head teacher Becky James said: "I've been at the school for 20 years and I've never known it this bad before. It's unprecedented.
"This time last winter, when we had all that really bad weather, there were only 26 off sick."
Read more: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.u...l/article.html