Ireland is facing into a perfect storm this Christmas with rapidly rising flu and increasing levels of Covid-19 as well as other viruses or bugs, public health doctors warned today.
octors have issued another call to arms as the festive season nears.
It comes as a second death of child this year from invasive Strep A was confirmed.
The death, which was only recently notified, happened earlier this year before the current spread of infection and it brings to two the number of child fatalities, following confirmation a four year old girl in Dublin also passed away from the bug in recent weeks.
The HSE also warned today of a rise in flu as Covid-19 looks set to make another resurgence .
Flu is exponentially rising and cases could potentially soar to 1,500.
Dr Eamonn O’Moore, head of health protection in the HSE said the figures warrant a “call to arms” among the public to get vaccinated and follow infection control measures such as wearing a face mask.
He said there was an 81pc spike in flu cases last week rising to 670, compared to 370 the previous week with the highest rates in the over 65s and children under four.
There were 213 people hospitalised with flu last week, up 68pc, with the highest rates again in the over 65s and the under fours.
He said: ”We will expect to see sharp rise in flu in coming weeks.”
He said it is difficult to know how bad the situation will be because of the presence of so many viruses and pathogens.
Potentially cases of flu could reach 1,500.
There was a slight fall in cases of RSV to 664, down from 678 but levels remain high.
Covid-19 is also seeing an uptick with 1,947 cases last week, up from 1,611 two weeks ago although the numbers hospitalised with the virus is stable at around 454 as well as those positive in intensive care.
There is usually a time lag between a rise in cases and hospitalisations.
Outbreaks in nursing home rose slightly to 26 last week and the numbers infected are low but if there is an increase in Covid-19 in the community that will inevitably result in more infection in nursing homes.
Referring to invasive Strep A infection he said the number of confirmed cases this year has risen to 65 with twenty of these in children, predominantly those under ten.
Two adults over 70 have died from invasive Strep A this year and two children, including the recent case and another which happened earlier this year but was only recently notified.
There appears to be an association in some cases with children who get a viral infection and invasive Strep A.
The hope is that the school holidays will act as a firebreak to reduce transmission.
He said people eligible for a flu or Covid-19 vaccine should avail of it.
There is concern that only 22pc of healthcare workers have had the Covid-19 booster vaccine and 10pc of children have had a flu vaccine.
HSE chief executive Stephen Mulvany said hospital emergency departments remain under extreme pressure with a 15pc increase in patients over 75 presenting, many needing admission.
He said “there is considerable variation in emergency department waiting times and it cannot “readily be explained by virtue of variation in demand versus capacity of individual hospital sites and their community. There is evidence of variable levels of leadership impact, management process effectiveness , clinical pathways and collaboration.”
He said the aim is to protect patient safety and patient experience and “we need to be able to look back and say that everything what could be done was done.”
