The dreaded Aussie flu outbreak expected to be the worst in 50 years is continuing to wreak havoc on Britain, official figures show.
Some 1,649 people were struck down with flu in England and Wales as temperatures plummeted over the week of Christmas.
The Public Health England data shows cases have soared by 48 per cent in a period of seven days – and are higher than previous winters.
It comes amid anticipation of the worst winter on record for the NHS – despite last year’s being branded a ‘humanitarian crisis’ by the Red Cross.
Doctors have described corridors overflowing with patients and ambulances being forced to queue outside AE as the winter flu season begins to take hold.
The rocketing number of flu cases has been put down to a surge in two aggressive subtypes attacking the population simultaneously.
One includes the so-called ‘Aussie flu’, a strain of influenza A which wreaked havoc on hospitals in Australia during the country’s winter.
Some 1,649 people were struck down with flu in England and Wales as temperatures plummeted over the week of Christmas
The H3N2 subtype triggered two and a half times the normal number of cases in Australia. Britain’s flu season tends to mirror what has happened there.
Experts fear the virulent flu strain, which has now reached the UK, could prove as deadly to humanity as the Hong Kong flu in 1968, which killed one million people.
Usually, just one subtype, either influenza A or B, is responsible for the majority of cases. It spreads much easier in the cold weather.
But last week 684 cases of influenza A and 915 of influenza B were recorded across England and Wales. Some 54 cases are yet to be identified.
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Some 23 people have died from the flu outbreak so far this winter, with nearly a third of fatalities having occurred during week 51 – which ended on Christmas Eve.
And Government records show 507 people have been hospitalised with flu so far this winter, slightly fewer than at this point last year.
However, this winter’s outbreak shows no signs of slowing down, as flu cases are expected to rocket even further in the coming weeks.
An analysis of data from week 52 shows the number of new cases each week is 10 times higher than that of 2015 – when 163 were recorded.
UFC STAR CONOR MCGREGOR IS STRUCK DOWN BY ‘AUSSIE FLU’
UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been struck down by deadly ‘Aussie flu’
UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been struck down by deadly ‘Aussie flu’, which could be the worst bout Britain has seen in 50 years.
He shared a candid Instagram snap of him relaxing in bed with his baby boy Conor Jr, revealing he and ‘half his family’ had contracted the virus.
The 29-year-old millionaire sportsman wrote on the social media site: ‘Well that was a wild New Year’s Eve.
‘Half the family hit with the Australian flu virus and some even left in hospital with it. I’ve never even been to Australia wtf.’[sic]‘
The MMA fighter and boxer said that he had been left shaken by the illness, which has affected people across Ireland over the festive period.
He said: ‘Big New Year’s Eve party cancelled at the last minute and I am left shaking in bed the past two days.
‘I’ll leave that with the rest of the bad behind me in 2017 and take with me the many great experiences I’ve had this year!
‘None greater than the birth of my son Conor Jr and the continued support of my family, my friends and my dedicated staff through thick and thin.’
The sharp rise in cases, released by Public Health England, has been triggered by a surge in two aggressive subtypes attacking the population simultaneously
CASES OF INFLUENZA
Statistics from Public Health England reveal how many people were infected during week 52 of the previous four winters.
2017
Influenza A
Influenza B
Ungrouped
684
915
54
2016
Influenza A
Influenza B
Ungrouped
662
0
22
2015
Influenza A
Influenza B
Ungrouped
145
10
8
2014
Influenza A
Influenza B
Ungrouped
262
11
29
During that winter, Government figures suggested the winter flu played a role in more than 16,000 deaths. Only 577 were recorded in the previous winter.
The total recorded in week 51 is also more than double that of last year, when 684 cases, mainly of the H3N2 subtype, were reported.
The sharp rise in flu is only expected to cause further problems for the NHS, with cases of the winter vomiting bug also continuing to soar.
Latest figures show 2,117 people have been infected with norovirus since July. The figure has raised at a steady level week-on-week since October.
Flu is also ‘actively circulating’ in Ireland, with less than ten people having lost their lives to the killer virus so far in this winter’s outbreak.
And in the US, the flu is already gripping 36 states and has killed at least 70 people in the US, according to data released by the CDC on Friday.
The latest PHE figures, released earlier today, follow the admittance of health chiefs that the current flu jab is ineffective for over-75s.
NHS England has written to all GPs warning the vaccine has ‘showed no significant effectiveness in this group over recent seasons’.
The latest PHE figures, released earlier today, follow the admittance of health chiefs that the current flu jab is ineffective for over-75s (stock)
NHS PREPARES FOR THE WORST FLU OUTBREAK IN 50 YEARS
The dreaded Aussie flu outbreak that the NHS is preparing for will be the worst in 50 years, experts warned in September.
Some AE units in Australia had ‘standing room only’ after being swamped by more than 100,000 cases of the H3N2 strain.
Professor Robert Dingwall, a public health expert at Nottingham Trent University, said it is ‘inevitable’ it will reach Britain.
He said it could claim as many lives as the Hong Kong flu outbreak in 1968, which killed at least one million people.
Professor Dingwall told The Daily Express: ‘Based on the Australian experience public health officials need to meet and urgently review emergency planning procedures.
‘Public Health England should be working with local authorities and local health services to ensure more hospital beds are freed up. We need to be prepared, alert and flexible.
‘There is no point in trying to close the borders. It’s almost inevitable this will come to us.
‘This is potentially the worst winter since the Hong Kong flu outbreak of 1968.
‘Lots of people have been very badly affected in Australia and whilst their mortality rates are not out yet we suspect this is a more severe strain than most other years.’
Deaths jumped 40 per cent in the winter of 2016, official figures show, which experts say is at least partly because the flu vaccine failed to protect the elderly.
The decision followed concerns by researchers that the jab may only be 20 per cent effective this winter – just like last year.
HOW MUCH PRESSURE IS THE NHS UNDER?
This winter will be the worst on record for the NHS, despite last year’s being branded a ‘humanitarian crisis’ by the Red Cross, experts fear.
Pressures on the NHS have escalated rapidly over the festive period with hospitals experiencing significant bed shortages.
Dr Nick Scriven, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said many hospitals reported more than 99 per cent capacity before Christmas.
He warned services are being placed under significant strain and called for non-urgent operations to be postponed until the end of January.
Speaking yesterday, he urged hospitals to prepare for extra demand, adding: ‘We are on the cusp of a major issue at least as bad as last year.’
Professor Chris Moulton, vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: ‘Everyone is busy… It’s pretty much spread throughout the whole NHS.’
Dr Taj Hassan, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: ‘Last winter we said, ‘This is the worst in 15 years’. But I think this winter it’s even worse.’
He said the lack of beds meant the practice of ‘boarding’ – where patients in trolleys are placed in the middle of wards or in corridors – was now common.
Studies have suggested the H3N2 strain, used in the jab created by World Health Organization scientists, has mutated to evade detection.
Some experts in Australia blamed this as a reason why they suffered such a severe flu outbreak. The vaccine used in the UK will be very similar.
The WHO creates the vaccines in March, based on which flu strains they expected to be in circulation. They are then doled out in September.
Australia – whose winter occurs during the British summer – had one of its worst outbreaks on record, with two and a half times the normal number of cases.
Some of the country’s AE units had ‘standing room only’ after being swamped by more than 100,000 cases of the H3N2 strain.
The elderly with their compromised immune systems are particularly susceptible, and a spike in cases among young children has also been shown.
The flu season in the UK and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere tends to mirror what has happened in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.
The same strains of the virus will circulate north in time for the British flu season, which typically begins in November and lasts until March.
Flu viruses are constantly changing proteins on their surface to avoid detection by the body’s immune system – making it more deadly.
This transformation is called an ‘antigenic shift’ if it’s large enough, and can lead to a pandemic. This was responsible for the swine flu outbreak in 2009.
The Aussie flu is transforming quickly, but not fast enough for experts to describe it as a shift. However, it is slowly building up immunity.
Nick Phin, interim deputy director for National Infection Service, said: ‘Flu activity, as measured by a number of different systems, has continued to increase in the last week or two.
‘This is to be expected as the season progresses, and while no two flu seasons are the same, the numbers are in-keeping with previous years.
‘As in past flu seasons, the chief medical officer has authorised the use of antivirals for treating flu-like illnesses communities.
‘We will continue to actively monitor flu activity and we are working closely with NHS England to support their work putting measures in place to manage potential increases in local and national flu activity.
‘It is not too late to get vaccinated and we therefore urge all who are eligible, especially those in at-risk groups that include people aged 65 years or over, pregnant women, and those with certain chronic conditions, to take up the offer of the vaccine.’
WHERE CAN YOU GET THE FLU JAB?
Flu can be a serious illness. If you become very ill with it, it can cause complications such as pneumonia, inflammation of the heart, brain or muscle, and kidney failure.
People at most risk of serious illness or death if they get flu are offered the vaccine on the NHS. Ideally you should have this before the end of December, when flu peaks (it takes about two weeks after the jab for antibodies to develop completely).
At-risk groups include anyone aged 65 and over; people living in long-stay residential care homes; carers and pregnant women.
The vaccine is also offered to anyone aged six months to 65 years with certain conditions, such as diabetes.
It is available via your GP’s surgery.
All children aged two to eleven (on August 31, 2017) are also offered the vaccine as a nasal spray. The UK introduced the child vaccination programme in 2013 — last year, the vaccine had 66 per cent effectiveness. Australia does not have a similar programme.
If you don’t qualify to have the jab on the NHS, you can pay to get it at a pharmacy.
Well Pharmacy charges £9 to £14 (depending on the number of strains in the vaccine), Superdrug from £9.99, Lloyds Pharmacy £10, Boots £12.99, and Tesco £9.
Older children who fall outside the NHS scheme can get the nasal spray vaccine from some pharmacies such as Well (£23 for those aged between two and 18; this may involve a second dose at least four weeks later for another £23) and the injection for those 12 and over for £9.
Boots offers the jab to those aged 16 and over at £12.99. Tesco offers it to those 12 and over at £9.
Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5229191/Cases-Aussie-flu-surge-48-week-figures-show.html