Health experts and NHS scientists have warned NHS The flu might “emerge” months earlier than usual this year, leading to calls for millions to get a flu shot as soon as possible..
Almost 20 million people in the UK will be offered a free flu shot, including all people over 50 this winter, as health experts fear a combination of flu infections, corona and a cost crisis, according to The Independent. Living can lead to rise in deaths.
The newspaper warned that the flu might be felt in October rather than December, as is usual every year, asking target people not to tell when they are invited to receive the vaccine.
In an interview with The Independent, Savorn Cordere warned Saffron Cordery Although this year’s flu “came early and hard to parts of the Southern Hemisphere, we’ll see it might be fatal in October.”“.
She added, that this would significantly prolong the “winter crisis” in the health services, and Dr John McCauley, director of the Global Influenza Center at the highly respected Francis Crick Institute in London, described the warning as “reasonable.”“.
Professor Matt Keeling, an epidemiologist at the University of Warwick and a member of the Sage Government Advisory Group, said his “expectation is that the flu will come early” this year, adding that precautionary measures such as wearing masks, social distancing and good hygiene have reduced flu levels in recent years, and with However, this means that the population’s immunity is likely to be slightly lower than in ‘normal’ years, although an extended vaccination program last year will help mitigate some of this.“.
He said flu rates would likely start to rise in October and peak in late November, rather than December or January. Prof Keeling added that even a small boom would put additional pressure on already overburdened health services, and that a simultaneous flu wave and a corona wave “might be very problematic.”“.
He added: “When they are offered, people need to get vaccinated for winter flu as quickly as possible, and the same for the Corona virus, stressing that, unfortunately, rolling out the vaccine early was impossible, and the vaccine takes time to manufacture and we can only distribute it once it is delivered to the United Kingdom from manufacturers.”
Data from the UK’s Health Security Agency indicates that the prevalence of influenza in London and south-east England is increasing, according to Dr Charlotte Holdcroft, lecturer in the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Sarah Peet, a microbiologist at the University of Brighton, pointed to what happened in Australia as an indicator of what would normally happen in the northern hemisphere..
“I agree that we have to prepare for both the high numbers of flu cases and an early start of the season here in Europe,” she said.” While preparing Influenza Vaccines It takes months because of the way it’s made, “I thought it would be possible to start[the vaccination program]a week or two early, and start distributing it,” she said..
Prof Wendy Barclay, Head of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London, and another member of the Sage Advisory Group, explained, “I think many of us are expecting that there may be more influenza infections than there have been in the past two years. Always an argument that if you go too early, that immunity for the most vulnerable may wane by January when we see a lot of flu..
A spokesperson for Britain’s Department of Health and Social Care said ministers were aware of the challenges this winter might pose to the NHS and that preparations were “well underway.”“.
