Walk-in flu vaccine clinics to be offered to children amid surge in cases

Walk-in flu vaccination clinics are being offered to children from this week, as the HSE said nearly 700 under-14s have been hospitalised with the illness this winter.

Flu rates rose most steeply among young children before Christmas, and continued rising in the week after, when they slowed down among older age groups.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar acknowledged on Monday that the number of flu cases generally is continuing to increase, while the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) predicted hospitals will stay under serious pressure until the end of February “at the very least”.

Hospitals remain under severe pressure as a result of flu, Covid-19 and RSV waves, though Mr Varadkar said Covid and RSV rates have peaked.

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There were 534 patients waiting for a bed on Tuesday morning, according to the INMO, up slightly on the 489 recorded the previous day, but well down on the record figures set a week earlier. The number of patients in hospital with Covid fell by 62 from Monday.

Health sources say the number of patients on trolleys, though high, is close to the average for last year. The improvement is the result of higher weekend discharges of patients and lower attendances at emergency departments. However, the expectation is that flu infections will continue to rise for at least the coming weeks.

Mr Varadkar said there are no plans to introduce mandated mask-wearing in public places, despite the continuing hospital overcrowding.

Earlier on Tuesday, the INMO said stronger advice around mask mandates and hand hygiene is needed, amid the surge in respiratory illnesses.

The World Health Organisation recommended on Tuesday that countries should consider recommending passengers wear masks on long-haul flights to counter the latest Omicron subvariant of Covid-19. A handful of XBB 1.5 cases were detected in Ireland before Christmas, but it is expected to grow rapidly at the expense of other subvariants.

Responding to the INMO call, Mr Varadkar said the Government is guided by the advice of chief medical officer Prof Breda Smyth, who he said “at least for now is not advocating that there should be a mask mandate”.

Meanwhile, the Irish Medical Organisation said it is likely that some patients have died as a result of “avoidable delays” in the health system over the last number of weeks.

“There is an even stronger likelihood that we will see further increased deaths and delayed diagnosis because some people who should present at our Emergency Departments in the coming weeks will not now do so because of fears of what they have recently seen,” Dr Matthew Sadlier of the IMO said in a statement on Tuesday.

More than 2,200 people have been hospitalised with flu so far this winter, with 58 requiring treatment in intensive care. Eighteen deaths have been recorded.

According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, 4,750 children needed hospital treatment due to flu in the decade to 2019. Some 183 were admitted to intensive care, and 41 children died.

Separately, data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that the number of eligible people who availed of Covid-19 vaccine boosters last year ranged from just 8 per cent to 33 per cent across certain electoral areas in the State.

The local electoral areas with the lowest second booster rates were all in the Dublin area, such as Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, where the rate was just 8 per cent, as well as Tallaght-South and the north inner city. Statisticians said this may partly be due to the younger population demographics of these areas.

The highest uptake was 33 per cent in Rathfarnham-Templeogue.

Primary vaccine uptake among children aged from five to 11 ranged from a low of 4 per cent in Donegal’s Buncrana and Carndonagh to a high of 55 per cent in Stillorgan, Dublin.