Aussie flu outbreak: Hospital admissions for virus TRIPLE as 48 die from flu
AUSSIE flu is sweeping through Britain with hospital admissions for patients suffering flu tripling in the space of a week, adding strain to the NHS crisis.
By REBECCA PINNINGTON
Express.co.uk
Fri, Jan 5, 2018
The potent flu strain threatens to exacerbate the NHS’ winter crisis with one in four hospital flu admissions now down to the H3N2 bug.
In the last week of December, 112 people were admitted to hospital with Australian flu alone, out of 421 cases. 17 of those were admitted to intensive care units.
And according to Public Health England (PHE), the rate of flu hospitalisation tripled from 2.33 cases to 6.82 cases per 100,000 people at the same time.
Since October 2, 355 people have been admitted to intensive care with flu – 45 of those with the Australian strain.
There have been 48 flu deaths in the UK over the same period.
The annual winter crisis in the NHS deepened this week as the flu jab was revealed to be ineffective.
PHE warned of a flu outbreak as the vaccine most commonly given out by the NHS targeted the wrong strain of the virus.
At-risk people, such as the elderly, who were vaccinated against influenza could still get the flu as the NHS jab is not effective against the most common flu strain being picked up.
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