•WHO: bird flu risk still ‘low’ after first U.S. patient dies
Patients in the UK have been urged to attend emergency departments alone as National Health Service (NHS) hospitals grapple with high demand amid rising flu cases.
Some hospitals have also restricted visitor numbers while others are encouraging people to wear surgical masks to limit the spread of viruses.
Several NHS trusts declared critical incidents due to “exceptionally high demands” in emergency departments, with a patient at one hospital forced to wait 50 hours to be admitted to a ward.
Nearly 5,000 hospital beds in England are occupied by patients with flu.
York and Scarborough hospitals asked for public support by asking patients to seek medical attention alone where possible.
Dr Ed Smith, deputy medical director at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our emergency departments are busy all year round but are exceptionally busy at the moment with a high volume of poorly patients attending.
“This means that the departments can often be overcrowded, with limited places to sit while waiting to be seen.
“While we understand it’s appropriate for a friend or family member to accompany with a child or as a carer for example, if patients can attend alone, this will help free up much-needed space for other patients.”
North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Southmead Hospital, urged both the public and staff to wear surgical face masks in its emergency zone.
“This is to reduce the risk of infection and to enhance the safety of all concerned,” the trust said.
Meanwhile, East Sussex Hospitals Trust announced on Tuesday it is temporarily limiting visiting to one visitor per patient per day to reduce the impact of flu.
“Exemptions apply to end-of-life care, our special care baby unit and when visiting children under 16,” a statement said.
“Additional visitors will be permitted on compassionate grounds on a case-by-case basis for all of our other services.”
Hospitals in Northamptonshire, Cornwall, Liverpool, Hampshire, Birmingham and Plymouth have all declared critical incidents in recent days.
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust also declared the first critical incident in its history due to a combination of “significant patient demand, pressure within local hospitals and flooding.”
Critical incidents can be declared when health and care services are so busy that special measures are needed to restore normal operations and keep patients safe.
But, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the risk of avian flu spreading to a wider population remains “low” a day after the United States reported its first human death from bird flu.
WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the H5N1 virus causing the disease is “not circulating in humans but jumping into humans” who are exposed to poultry or dairy cattle.
“We’re not seeing sustained circulation,” she insisted.
“The man who died of the disease in Louisiana was over 65 and reportedly had underlying medical conditions,’’ Harris said.
According to the health authorities, he had been exposed to chickens and wild birds.
Several dozen people in the U.S. have contracted avian influenza – commonly referred to as bird flu – during the current outbreak, mainly farmworkers in close contact with poultry flocks and cattle herds.
Harris stressed that WHO’s assessment of the risk to the general population “is still low and remains set”.
The main concern is for people who work in animal industries because they need to be better protected from infection.
The WHO spokesperson added that the United States was continuing to carry out “a lot of surveillance” in the human and animal population, “in the methods we use for farming, for our food production…all those things need to be combined because indeed it always does pose a risk”.
