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All children aged 2 and17 can get free flu vaccine. Same remains still available in Ireland for children aged 2-17 and is given as a spray up the nose, with no need for an injection. It remains a safe, easy and pain free way to help protect children against flu this winter.
The flu vaccine will also help to reduce the spread of flu to others such as siblings, parents, teachers at high risk of flu complications (e.g. pregnant or long-term health conditions) and grandparents.
Flu Vaccination Clinics.
A number of community vaccination centres across the country are now offering ‘children’s walk-in flu vaccination clinics’ with no appointments necessary and with the vaccine free of charge. The full schedule of clinics, to date, is available HERE.
Alas, for reasons best known to the HSE, no community vaccination centre has been allocated to Co. Tipperary and indeed as yet only 13 counties within the Republic’s 26 counties, are benefitting from the free service.
However, on further investigation we find one pharmacy, namely Boots Pharmacy, No.26 – No.29 Thurles Shopping Centre, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, offering the service. See HSE website HERE. (Pharmacy Contact Tel. Number 0504 24594.)
The HSE have set up these additional walk-in flu vaccination clinics in the afore mentioned age group,;in response to the rising numbers of flu cases in children as well as the significant number of children who have been hospitalised by the virus this winter; together with very low vaccination rates.
The nasal spray flu vaccine is only available until Monday, January 23rd and after this date, we are informed by the HSE, that only children with medical conditions, which put them at risk of serious illness from flu, will be able to get a flu vaccine, given as an injection.
Flu can be serious when contracted by children
Children are twice as likely to catch flu as adults. While most children who get the flu will have mild symptoms, some children can get complications, such as pneumonia or bronchitis and may need to go to hospital. Children, especially younger children, are also more likely than adults to contract severe complications
Flu can cause serious illness in children, and children with chronic health conditions are most at risk of severe complications of flu.
Children also carry the flu virus in their system, much longer than adults and they can spread the virus easily to other children, like those in day-care centres and schools, and to older and vulnerable people around them. The flu vaccine therefore offers children the best protection against the virus.
It therefore follows, that the HSE are encouraging parents to avail of this opportunity to vaccinate their children against flu, as same continues to spread and is likely to continue circulating within communities further, for a number of weeks.
You can find out more about the free nasal flu vaccine for children HERE.
A new surge in cases of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is being reported within the Mid-West health region of Ireland, latter which covers counties North Tipperary, Clare, and Limerick.
Concerns are being expressed that this will now place even further pressure on University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which continues to remain the most overcrowded emergency medical facility within the Irish State.
A specialist in Public Health Medicine, Dr Marie Casey; latter currently working on COVID-19 health protection response at regional level, has stated; “What’s unique about this year is that we’re having all these seasons of these different infections at the same time, so normally there will be different patterns and there will be a bit of staggering. But what we’re seeing is that there are high numbers of all the different types of infection at the same time, and that obviously is putting increased burden on our region.”
Dr Casey said that RSV is mostly affecting children, with many of them older than would normally be seen, and there is a drift into the older population as well, which she confirmed was different from previous years.
Go back to basics.
Dr Casey is urging people to go back to basics again and not to socialise – go to work or school when sick – continue hand hygiene, and wear face masks, particularly if feeling unwell.
Yesterday, Monday, January 9th, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said there were 489 patients on trolleys waiting for admission to a hospital bed, with University Hospital Limerick the worst affected with 48 patients waiting.
Today, Tuesday, January 10th, there are 573 patients with Covid-19 in our Republics hospitals according to the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Over the past 14 days, 309 cases of Covid-19 were reported in Co. Tipperary, however, these are only the reported cases and the figure is most likely to be much higher.
Ambulances operating in the mid-west region, which includes and provides medical services in North Tipperary, are to begin transporting non-urgent 112/999 patients to Ennis General Hospital as and from Monday next, as part of agreed new protocols targeting the easing of pressure on the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
Same pressures are caused by chronic overcrowding, due to the massive surge in patients experiencing respiratory infections, including Covid-19, Flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus infection (RSV).
So with a doctor shortage in Tipperary and with many doctors failing to answer their telephones, due to work pressure; who decides who is non-urgent?
For example, are mild strokes urgent or non-urgent? If you have a silent stroke, you probably won’t know it unless you happen to have a brain scan and the damage shows up.
We are told an electrocardiogram (ECG) is an important test in any suspected mild heart attacks and should be done within 10 minutes of being admitted to hospital.
Death By Geography.
Back in October 2016 we previously raised this issue.
The distance from Thurles to Ennis is 116.3 km, with a normal travelling time of 1 hr-24 min via R498 and M7. Currently for medical help, the distance from Thurles to the UHL medical facility in Limerick is 78.1 km, with normal travelling time 1 hr-6 min also via R498 and M7, or a difference of 38.2 km. This new agreed regulation now adds a further 18 minutes to those victims suffering heart attacks or strokes, where timing is all important so that the person suffering can be treated quickly.
Since 2009, the Model 4 UHL facility has provided the only 24-hour Emergency Department service for a population over 400,000, taking into account newly arrived refugees, after A&E services were closed, under a Fianna Fáil government, in Ennis and Nenagh and in St John’s Hospital Limerick.
The UL Hospitals Group, which operates the mid-west hospitals, declared a major incident at the UHL ED on last Monday, January 2nd, when management said record levels of patients attending the department could no longer be sustained.
The silence within our rural Thurles community continues. Why?
The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Breda Smyth, is urging parents to continue to be mindful of others when their children are sick and to keep them home from school and childcare facilities, if they are displaying new symptoms of illness.
The flu, COVID-19 and RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) is continuing to spread, with these three respiratory viruses, accounting for more than 1,200 hospitalisations last week.
Professor Smyth also strongly advised anyone with any new flu-like symptoms, to stay at home to avoid spreading infection to other potentially more vulnerable people.
Parents were also reminded by Professor Smyth that children should be kept at home for at least 48 hours after their symptoms have fully or substantially resolved.
For Further information, please do visit HERE.
Management at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), latter providing medical services to North Tipperary, have declared a major internal incident, due to the record high attendances at its Emergency Department (ED) today.
A spokesperson for the hospital has stated that patients attending UHL ED with non-emergency care will face an exceptionally long wait before receiving any necessary care, due to the massive surge in patients experiencing respiratory infections, including Covid-19, Flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus infection (RSV)
Less acutely unwell patients are being asked to first consider Injury Units; GPs; out-of-hours GP services; and pharmacists before attending at UHL’s hospital emergency department.
In order to try to address the worsening situation at the hospital, UHL has sent out an S.O.S call for off-duty staff to return and present themselves to the hospital for work duty; while additional surge beds are being opened at hospitals in Ennis Co. Clare; Nenagh Co. Tipperary, and in St. John’s Co. Limerick.
Day beds at University Hospital Limerick are also being converted to inpatient beds, with a renewed focus on discharging current patients.
All outpatient appointments at UHL, scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, January 3rd, have been cancelled and only urgent elective surgery will be undertaken over the coming days.
Note: Injury Units in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s will continue to operate as normal, while all visiting to UHL is now severely restricted, to parents of children, those visiting patients who are critically unwell and those assisting confused patients (e.g. dementia).
The National Ambulance Service (NAS) have also been asked to divert some patients to other acute hospitals, in an effort to support the extreme levels of demand at UHL.
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