A hospital in Kent is making the wearing of face masks mandatory amid a surge of a mutant flu virus.<\/p>\n
Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford has seen a sharp rise in infections, prompting new rules that people must wear surgical masks in clinical areas to keep everyone safe.<\/p>\n
People are being warned about a new strain of flu. Picture: iStock<\/p>\n
It comes as the NHS revealed hospitalisations for flu in the south east have more than doubled in the last week – around 200 people per day.<\/p>\n
The latest data, released today, shows 200 more people were admitted in the last week compared to the same period last year.<\/p>\n
Now health bosses are urging people to boost their protection against the mutant flu virus by getting vaccinated.<\/p>\n
Kate Langford, chief medical officer for NHS Kent and Medway, said this year\u2019s flu is proving harsher than recent seasons.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWe are seeing rates of flu rising across the county and we have seen that it is a particularly nasty flu this year.<\/p>\n
Kate Langford is the chief medical officer of NHS Kent and Medway<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flu virus mutates all the time\u2026 we saw a mutation and a particularly bad season in Australia, and we knew as it came towards us, we were likely to be in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s data shows more than 17.4 million people have been vaccinated so far this year \u2013 some 170,000 more than this time last year.<\/p>\n
More than 60,000 extra frontline healthcare workers have had their flu jabs this year compared to a similar time last year, with thousands more expected to get inoculated in the coming days.<\/p>\n
As demand on the NHS surges, it is bracing for another five days of industrial action by resident doctors, which begins at 7am next Wednesday (December 17).<\/p>\n
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, said: \u201cWith record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year \u2013 with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients.<\/p>\n
Dartford’s Darent Valley Hospital has introduced rules making masks mandatory to keep people safe throughout flu season<\/p>\n
\u201cThe numbers of patients in hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven worse, it continues to rise and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that NHS staff \u201chave pulled out all the stops\u201d to vaccinate more people than last year, but urged anyone eligible for the vaccine to book an appointment or visit a walk-in site as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people are eligible for the free vaccine, including over 65s, pregnant women, toddlers, people with certain health conditions and frontline health and social care workers.<\/p>\n
Appointments can be booked online, via the NHS App or by calling 119 for free. You can also contact your GP practice for the flu vaccination.<\/p>\n
Children are particularly vulnerable. Picture: iStock<\/p>\n
Alternatively, you can visit a pop-up clinic, taking place in village halls, libraries and community centres across Kent and Medway. No appointment is needed, just walk in.<\/p>\n
Darent Valley Hospital will be providing masks at the hospital entrances and is urging people not to visit if they are feeling unwell.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, wards caring for patients with flu will temporarily restrict visiting to two visitors per patients for the next 14 days.<\/p>\n
A spokesman added: \u201cThese measures are in place to keep everyone safe during this period of increased infection. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “There is a tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals. We are working with the NHS to make sure it is able to cope with this as best as possible, including already getting over 17 million patients vaccinated, 170,000 more than this time last year, with over 60,000 more NHS staff also getting their jab.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health and social secretary Wes Streeting says there is a tidal wave of flu tearing through the hospitals. Picture: Lucy North\/PA<\/p>\n
Dr Simon Ferris, health protection consultant and flu lead for UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) South East, said: \u201cWe have been seeing more outbreaks of flu in schools and educational settings and care homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now seeing more cases among adults and with increased mixing and socialising over the festive period, this is expected to increase further.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Langford added: \u201cIt is important to get protected, even if you had a vaccine last winter or have been ill with flu before, as immunity fades over time and these viruses change each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are vaccinated and catch flu this winter, you are likely to have milder symptoms and recover faster, reducing your risk of being hospitalised.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A hospital in Kent is making the wearing of face masks mandatory amid a surge of a mutant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[2097,18942,105,4348,609,495,607,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-626356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-dartford","9":"tag-gravesham","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-human-interest","13":"tag-kent","14":"tag-medway","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115701228788525455","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}