"Two more UK hospitals are bringing back masks for staff and visitors amid a sharp rise in flu cases. Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berkshire, and Frimley Park Hospital near Camberley, Surrey, will announce the change on Tuesday, the BBC understands. Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the two sites, said the number of patients with flu had doubled in the last two weeks. It said there had been outbreaks on wards and the dominant strain was "particularly virulent"."
"The rate of flu hospitalisations in the last week of November was 63% higher than the week before, according to the UK Health Security Agency. Several hospitals have been put under strain and have reintroduced masks, including at Guildford's accident and emergency department. Frimley Health NHS Trust said it would supply masks for staff on clinical wards and for visitors at the hospital entrances."
Wexham Park Hospital in Slough and Frimley Park Hospital near Camberley are reinstating mask requirements for staff and visitors after a sharp rise in influenza cases. Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust reported that flu cases doubled over two weeks and that there have been ward outbreaks, with the dominant strain described as particularly virulent. The flu season has arrived earlier than normal and has not yet peaked. Flu hospitalisations in the last week of November rose by 63% compared with the previous week. Several hospitals have been put under strain, prompting mask reinstatements and additional hand gel dispensers. The current H3N2 strain can cause severe symptoms lasting about a week, even in some vaccinated patients.
Read at www.bbc.com
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