‘Killer flu’ spreads to third town
THE potentially deadly ‘Aussie flu’ strain has now spread to Rochdale, according to data used by health experts.
After the M.E.N. reported that Bolton and Bury were among the worst hit areas in the country, Rochdale has now also seen a spike in the strain.
An online map published by the ‘flusurvey’ project – which covers all types of influenza – shows how many cases there are in every area of the UK, using a colour gradient indicating everything from no reports to ‘very high’ numbers of reports.
Blue areas show the areas largely unaffected by flu right now while the red areas mean there has been a spike in cases. Rochdale is now a red area.
An increasing number of cases of the ‘Aussie flu’ strain – also known as H3N2 are also being reported.
A subtype of influenza A, ‘Aussie flu’ has reportedly been blamed for more than 300 deaths in Australia.
Now health experts have issued advice on how best people can avoid catching the nasty strain.
“Catching the flu can be unpleasant but for most healthy people it will usually clear up within a few weeks,” a statement issued by Rochdale council and NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group said.
“For some people however, it can be very serious or even life-threatening.
“The quick and simple flu vaccination is the best protection from the virus and they are offered free to those residents who could be ‘at risk’ of developing severe complications from the flu:
Healthy children aged two to fouryears-old People aged over 65 People aged 6 months to 65 years old with underlying medical conditions such as heart problems, asthma or disabilities Pregnant women Carers People living in long-stay residential care homes or other long-term care facilities
“If you are one of these people or know someone who is please contact your local GP, pharmacy or midwife to book your vaccination.
“We also advise people to remember to catch it, bin it, kill it to prevent spreading the virus to loved ones.
“For more information about the flu vaccination and how to prevent spreading the virus visit www.nhs.uk/conditions/Flu. Advice is also available by telephoning NHS 111.”
Dr Matt Pegorie, from Public Health England North West, issued a note of caution about the flu survey, and said the flu jab is the best way of beating the illness.
He said: “The flu survey is an on-line survey, which was set up during the swine flu pandemic in 2009 as an indicator of flu activity in the community.
“Around 7,500 people around the country are currently registered with survey and, during the winter, they voluntarily report if they have had flu-like symptoms during the previous week.
“This means number of participants at a local level will be small and figures should thus be interpreted with caution. As we would expect at this time of year, flu levels have increased this week. Our data shows that more people are visiting GPs with flu symptoms and we are seeing more people admitted to hospitals with the flu.”