Flu admissions are up

Absolutely agree.

At least one Scottish hospital has asked visitors to wear a mask. (Also restricted visiting times and only one visitor per patient).

Yes, masks are good

Are people still having their vaccinations?

My mother is in hospital and has tested positive for flu as have the other five patients in her ward . We have to wear masks and use handgel when we visit . The staff also wear masks . My mother says the cleaning staff are constantly cleaning .

Patsy70

Are people still having their vaccinations?

I’ve had mine and my mother has had both flu and Covid vacs . Apart from some breathing problem s and a cough , she’s not too poorly.

Apparently the vaccine is 30-40% effective at preventing hospital admission in adults this year, as there has been a new variant since it was developed. It’s still worth getting vaccinated.

The virus constantly mutates, but 30 per cent effectiveness is better than none. Good to go for your jab, unless, like some folk, you have problems with the vaccine.

i cannot wear a mask - didn't wear one throughout covid. i don't go out very often and avoid crowds and i've had both flu and covid jabs.

It's not just the UK. I'm in the US. I've had my flu and COVID vax. But I have the worst cold I've had in years. I live in a 47 unit senior independent living. Everybody is in mask and gloves.

My wife is Covid extremely vulnerable. We have had both jabs. Last Tuesday, we had to visit a local hospital for a diagnostic test and we decided to wear masks. Our other local hospital has already made mask wearing mandatory.

On arrival, we were met by a young nurse who looked slightly apprehensive. ‘Are you infectious’ she asked? Our response was ‘No - and we would like to stay that way’.None of the staff were wearing masks.

I was hospitalised with flu 50 years ago at the age of 25 - and it wasn’t a lot of fun! I just wonder why when flu jabs are offered to the 1M or so health workers why only 34% have taken it up. Don’t they follow the news. A primary school in NI had 170 children plus staff off last week with flu with some hospitalised.

My medic dd warned us yesterday to be careful about flu as the numbers in A&E have ‘exploded’ this week, according to her. She said flu jabs and hand washing/sanitiser are the best deterrent. The evidence for masks is quite poor but it seems that a mask helps stop the spread if you have flu but doesn’t prevent one from being infected.

I’m a bit worried now as we were in a hot and stuffy primary school environment yesterday and my Dh is vulnerable. No one there seemed ill, to be fair.

I’m two weeks to retirement and working in a nursery. I pray I don’t get it as my fond farewell! The children do carry germs and are starting to drop with cold in my room.

UK
Cases; Weekly Up to 25 Nov 2025 637
Deaths; Weekly Up to 21 Nov 2025 102
Patients admitted; Up to 31 Oct 20251,207

FranP

UK
Cases; Weekly Up to 25 Nov 2025 637
Deaths; Weekly Up to 21 Nov 2025 102
Patients admitted; Up to 31 Oct 20251,207

COVID stats

OldFrill

At least one Scottish hospital has asked visitors to wear a mask. (Also restricted visiting times and only one visitor per patient).

"Asked" or "told" ??? Pleased to hear they are only "asking" - ie requesting and not ordering.

School children are offered the nasal drops flu prevention but only about a third of the children had it done (parents didn't give permission either forgot, couldn't be arsed or didn't want nasty pharma coming near their precious little angels or rarely the child had excellent reasons for not having it) so the virus had chance to go round the class mutating as it went then home to make granny ill as vaccines are never 100%

Wearing a mask will not protect you from flu as the droplets from a sneeze or cough can enter via the eye. The only good thing about masks is, it stops you spreading germs.
I personally would hate to have to wear masks all the time like during Covid times
I had several vaccinations for Covid and wore masks but still caught covid 4 times over 3 years.

My partner and me have had the flu jab, we don't get reactions from it luckily & my partner has COPD & I have 2 autoimmune conditions. My parents were fortunate enough to live into their 90's & had every vaccination going but were lucky enough to have fairly good health & ate quite wholesomely. Changing the subject slightly but I read COVID is like measles, the theory is that like measles, it wipes out the immunes memory bank for virus response & this could also be why many people picked up colds and flu after COVID infections alongside the post lockdown mingling.

Thankfully, I dont know of a single person with it. Yet.

We call children the ‘cute carriers’.
We’ve both been jabbed for ‘flu and Covid but as my age is under 75 I had to have my Covid jab done privately (£80) at our pharmacy.

Madness. If I got Covid who would look after Himself?

The doctor agreed fully with me but she said “if I were to give you the jab ‘inadvertently’ - cough, cough - I would have to fill out an Incident Form”.

This is NHS England.

I respectfully beg to differ:

‘FFP2 masks offer strong protection against influenza and other respiratory viruses by filtering out at least 94% of airborne particles, including infectious droplets and aerosols, making them highly recommended for healthcare workers, vulnerable individuals, or during high transmission periods….’

We also reduce the risk further by using NoriZite Nasal Spray.
Laboratory studies have showed that the NoriZite™ formulation can block the SARS-CoV-2 infection of cells, in culture. The research confirmed the complete inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 infection for up to 48 hours. NoriZite Spray is a product developed by Birmingham University.

I’d rather be in a room with people wearing simple disposable masks, than no mask at all.
Since fewer people will buy or in some cases, can afford to buy, the more expensive masks, I’d hope they’d at least have some protection.

A local primary school closed on Friday for a deep clean. Hundreds of staff and pupils ill with flu or flu like symptoms.