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FLU CASES ARE surging, expected to peak in Christmas week and the New Year, adding a further impossible burden to already buckling health services and exhausted staff.
As some hospitals introduce visitor restrictions due to the high number of patients with the flu, presentations to emergency departments continue to rise sharply. The latest figures show weekly hospitalisations increased by 58% to 657 cases in the last week, compared with 415 cases the previous week. There have been 42 ICU admissions and 13 deaths reported for this season to date.
Hospitals are urging visitors who are unwell with flu-like symptoms not to attend that hospital. Many hospitals are advising visitors to wear a face mask to prevent the spread of infection as well as allowing only one designated, named visitor for the duration of a hospital stay, with no rotating of visitors allowed and no children permitted to visit in-patient areas.
These are sensible measures to curb infection spread as the Christmas season cranks into gear, creating a perfect storm for the flu virus to spread like wildfire during a much anticipated festive period that provides a bright light in the middle of a dark, cold, damp and very depressing Irish winter.
If you are planning a Christmas of socialising, what can be done to minimise the chances of the festive season being annihilated by flu?
If you are coming home for Christmas and planning lots of socialising in town, there is a good chance that a large number of people in any venue are harbouring flu symptoms. Not just any flu bug but a new, highly virulent H3N2 subclade K that is wreaking havoc in its wake.
There has been some criticism of the HSE’s decision not to offer an enhanced influenza vaccine for people aged 65 years and older this season as it was not deemed cost effective.
Enhanced flu vaccines included adjuvanted vaccines and high-dose flu vaccines. An adjuvanted vaccine include an extra ingredient (‘adjuvant’) that promotes an improved immune response compared to a standard vaccine. A high dose flu vaccines contain a stronger dose of the ingredients that cause the immune response.
A Health Information Quality Authority (Hiqa) report in 2024 advised that the adjuvanted vaccine for people aged 65 year and older, rather than the standard flu vaccine, may be the best use of resources. The report suggested that while the vaccine would likely be more expensive, the cost to the HSE would likely be less each year due to a reduced number of hospitalisations in people who received the vaccine.
Notwithstanding, the flu vaccine is still the single most effective way to protect yourself and others from being struck down – significantly lowering your risk of serious illness and complications.
Book an appointment for the vaccine with your GP or pharmacy.
Many parents think that children don’t need a vaccine against flu – “it’s only flu.” It may be “only flu” to many kids but some children do become seriously unwell, needing hospitalisation.
Added to that, children are recognised as being major transmitters of flu because they can be contagious for longer (up to 14 days) compared with adults who tend to be infectious for five to seven days.
They are also effective spreaders because of their reduced etiquette around coughing, sneezing and contaminating surfaces with their sticky little fingers. They are frequently kissed by doting relatives and grandparents – adding to the contagion.
Vaccinating children with the nasal vaccine protects them from flu but also protects grandparents and other vulnerable family members from picking it up from them.
When you walk into a bar in the next few weeks, milling with festive partygoers, be on the lookout for symptoms – runny noses, coughing, sneezing and spluttering into pints or cocktails.
Avoid them like the plague.
Don’t shake hands with anyone. Be very stingy with your hugs and kisses. If you can socialise outside, do – fresh air and ventilation can help reduce the risk of exposure to viruses. If socialising indoors, open the window to improve airflow and allow the germs to escape.
Wearing a mask can provide an extra layer of protection, especially in crowded indoor spaces.
If you must shake hands, carry a hand sanitiser and use it regularly. Remember the path of germs – nose or throat to hands and from there into your mouth and airways. Surfaces are contaminated too – tables, door handles, bar counters, toilet flushes, taps. Wash your hands and dry them thoroughly after visiting the bathroom. If you are floating down the stairs in a crowded venue, remember all those sweaty palms that have handled that banister before you. Use it to guide your descent and then sanitise (again).
Never, ever, indulge yourself by dipping hands into a bowl of nuts and eating them. It is not just the flu virus that lurks in those bowls.
If you are the host, make sure there is plenty of hand sanitiser available – in the kitchen and living rooms and especially in the hall beside the front door.
Avoid the mistletoe this year.
Washing your hands is more than a drizzle of water on the tips of your fingers followed by a quick shake. Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water isn’t available, use an alcohol-based sanitiser containing at least 60% alcohol.
Use tissues to trap germs when coughing or sneezing and bin tissues immediately. Don’t sneeze into a napkin and leave it on your plate.
Germs easily enter your body through your eyes, nose and mouth. Make a conscious effort to keep your hands away from your face.
While succumbing to influenza can weaken your immunity and make you more prone to bacterial infection, there are measures you can take to boost your immune system and your resilience to infection. While these measures are not a substitute for all the above measures, a healthy immune system helps to fight off infection.
Getting enough sleep and eating a diet full of fruit, vegetables, protein and fibre can support immune function. Drink plenty of fluids so that healthy mucous membranes can provide a primary defence against viruses. Manage stress – a key factor that can compromise the immune response and increase vulnerability to illness.
The Christmas season is in full swing – so unfortunately is a virulent new strain of flu that tends to be more severe than other strains.
There are steps you can take to significantly lower your risk of catching flu. By getting a vaccine now from your GP or pharmacy; washing your hands thoroughly and often; and minimising shaking hands, hugging and kissing- especially babies with sticky hands and faces.
If you achieve all that, you can enjoy a social life this year while significantly lowering your risk of catching the flu and spending 10 miserable days in bed. That was my fate last Christmas and I have no intention of having a repeat performance this year.
Dr Catherine Conlon is a public health doctor in Cork
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