The Health Department announced today that flu cases have increased in the past couple of weeks. The department said that more than 200 “very sick people” were admitted to Mater Dei hospital as in patients between New Year’s Eve and up to 4pm today, Tuesday, the 4th of January,.

The Health Department went on to say that, there were peaks in hospital admissions around this time of the year due to chest infections as a result of complications from seasonal influenza, this was normally in, mainly in frail, elderly or chronically ill individuals. Chest infections can also often be accompanied by a general worsening of the overall health status. This was the same pattern of illness that was occurring across the whole of Europe.

“The management and staff at Mater Dei Hospital were doing all they can to handle the increased number of patients as best as possible and management fully understood and appreciated the increased workload on the nursing, medical and other staff. It was working hard to ensure a smoother patient flow,” the department said.

Influenza activity in the Maltese community is being monitored by the Public Health Department through the influenza sentinel surveillance system. The current situation is that influenza-like illness in Malta as per case definition set by ECDC has trebled over the last 15 days as follows:

Week 50/2010: 47.6 affected persons per 1,000 population

Week 51/2010: 102.8 affected persons per 1,000 population

Week 52/2010: 132.7 affected persons per 1,000 population

The Department of Health also encouraged the public to take the normal precautions for the prevention of spread of flu, these include frequent hand-washing and staying home if sick. The department said it also encourages people to seek medical assistance if they are sick, especially the vulnerable groups who are more at risk of complications.

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