Israel.. Hospitals collapse due to an early and violent wave of influenza
Today, Wednesday, Israeli hospitals witnessed a state of complete paralysis, with occupancy rates in internal departments reaching 100% or more in a number of major medical centers, due to a severe influenza wave that struck the country since the beginning of this December. In Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, there are no empty beds at all, while Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva recorded an occupancy rate of 107% with patients placed in the corridors, as did Carmel Hospital in Haifa and Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, which reached 100% and 95% on average. Successively.
A nurse in one of the internal departments described the situation to the “Maariv” newspaper. She said: “The department is completely blown away. We put a patient in the dining room, and we may have to divert another corridor to accommodate an additional patient.” The nursing staff is exhausted, some of us are sick and some of us are absent due to sick children, and winter has not yet begun.
For her part, a specialist doctor at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv warned that “this winter is extreme,” noting that three children died last week due to flu complications, and confirmed that “A crazy influenza epidemic is coming that will take more lives if the immunization rate does not rise quickly.”
The numbers showed that the percentage of people vaccinated against influenza does not exceed 15% nationwide, and drops to less than 10% among children and less than 50% among the elderly, despite an increase recorded. 30-40% in demand for the vaccine in recent weeks.
In a precedent, the Epidemic Control Team in the Israeli Ministry of Health recommended for the first time that the entire population be immunized against influenza, not just the groups at risk.
The H3N2 subtype K strain is currently spreading in Israel, which is characterized by a high ability to infect and partially evade immunity, and is the same as The strain that causes severe waves in Europe, the United States and Japan.
It is noteworthy that this early wave puts additional pressure on the Israeli health system, which is still suffering from the repercussions of the Corona pandemic on staff and equipment.
Globally, some cases have returned. Countries have decided to impose masks in hospitals and closed places, as in Catalonia, Spain, and New York State, while Japan has closed schools and infection rates have exceeded warning thresholds in most of its governorates. Europe and Britain: A sharp increase in hospitalizations (+50% in Britain).
– The United States: Hundreds of thousands have been infected, thousands hospitalized, and about 300 deaths so far.
– Japan: Schools have been closed and warning thresholds have been exceeded in most provinces.
– Some countries have begun to re-impose wearing wear. Masks in closed spaces and hospitals (Spain, Britain, New York, Washington).
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