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Jan 27, 2011
MOH issues alert as flu cases soar
By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
THE cold and flu epidemic has worsened here, with 20,702 people seeking treatment at polyclinics last week.
Cases - including pneumonia and bronchitis - rose by 13 per cent compared with the week before.
The worsening situation prompted the Health Ministry to issue an alert last night, urging the young, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses to get vaccinated against the flu.
It warned: 'While most people with influenza recover with rest and symptomatic treatment, influenza can result in pneumonia requiring hospitalisation, or even death.'
Doctors noticed an increasing number of patients turning up with fever, runny noses and sore throats about a month ago.
By the second week of this month, the number of cases had crossed the epidemic threshold.
Last week, cases continued to soar, resulting in the alert from the ministry last night.
The number of cold and flu cases islandwide is much higher as the ministry tracks only patients seen at the 18 polyclinics.
Polyclinics look after about a fifth of the population, and are used as a yardstick for measuring infection rates in Singapore, and to trigger an alert when numbers are high.
Many more people with cold and flu are being treated by their own general practitioners.
Dr Chin Khong Ling, who runs a Healthway clinic in Shenton Way, said she has been noticing the increase since the middle of last month, and that there has been no let-up so far.
But she added: 'Most cases are still mild.'
Most patients are treated for symptoms such as body aches, fever, sore throats and runny noses, and are advised to rest.
Of more concern is the increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for respiratory infections at hospital emergency departments.
Starting from the third week of last month, when 1,931 patients sought emergency help at hospitals, the number has grown steadily to 2,489 patients last week.
Similarly, the number who had to be admitted to hospital with pneumonia - the third leading killer here - has gone up.
Last week, 226 people were warded because of this. This compares with 191 at about the same time last month.
The ministry stressed that people should practise good personal hygiene, such as washing their hands frequently.
They should also lead healthy lifestyles which will help build up their immunity and protect them against infection.
The ministry also urged people to be 'socially responsible when unwell, for example, by not going to school or work'.
The last time Singapore saw such high numbers of patients down with the cold or flu was in July 2009, when nearly 25,000 came down with it every week, based on polyclinic figures.
That peak came on the heels of the declaration of the H1N1 flu pandemic at the end of April 2009 by the World Health Organisation.
The pandemic H1N1 bug remains the major cause of influenza here, responsible for about four in five flu cases.
This pandemic strain has proven to be milder than most flu strains. The current flu vaccine also protects against this H1N1 strain.
MOH issues alert as flu cases soar
By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
THE cold and flu epidemic has worsened here, with 20,702 people seeking treatment at polyclinics last week.
Cases - including pneumonia and bronchitis - rose by 13 per cent compared with the week before.
The worsening situation prompted the Health Ministry to issue an alert last night, urging the young, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses to get vaccinated against the flu.
It warned: 'While most people with influenza recover with rest and symptomatic treatment, influenza can result in pneumonia requiring hospitalisation, or even death.'
Doctors noticed an increasing number of patients turning up with fever, runny noses and sore throats about a month ago.
By the second week of this month, the number of cases had crossed the epidemic threshold.
Last week, cases continued to soar, resulting in the alert from the ministry last night.
The number of cold and flu cases islandwide is much higher as the ministry tracks only patients seen at the 18 polyclinics.
Polyclinics look after about a fifth of the population, and are used as a yardstick for measuring infection rates in Singapore, and to trigger an alert when numbers are high.
Many more people with cold and flu are being treated by their own general practitioners.
Dr Chin Khong Ling, who runs a Healthway clinic in Shenton Way, said she has been noticing the increase since the middle of last month, and that there has been no let-up so far.
But she added: 'Most cases are still mild.'
Most patients are treated for symptoms such as body aches, fever, sore throats and runny noses, and are advised to rest.
Of more concern is the increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for respiratory infections at hospital emergency departments.
Starting from the third week of last month, when 1,931 patients sought emergency help at hospitals, the number has grown steadily to 2,489 patients last week.
Similarly, the number who had to be admitted to hospital with pneumonia - the third leading killer here - has gone up.
Last week, 226 people were warded because of this. This compares with 191 at about the same time last month.
The ministry stressed that people should practise good personal hygiene, such as washing their hands frequently.
They should also lead healthy lifestyles which will help build up their immunity and protect them against infection.
The ministry also urged people to be 'socially responsible when unwell, for example, by not going to school or work'.
The last time Singapore saw such high numbers of patients down with the cold or flu was in July 2009, when nearly 25,000 came down with it every week, based on polyclinic figures.
That peak came on the heels of the declaration of the H1N1 flu pandemic at the end of April 2009 by the World Health Organisation.
The pandemic H1N1 bug remains the major cause of influenza here, responsible for about four in five flu cases.
This pandemic strain has proven to be milder than most flu strains. The current flu vaccine also protects against this H1N1 strain.
