Flu outbreak 'worst I've ever seen', says top GP
A senior GP from Northampton said the current flu bug has caused the biggest influx of patients to surgeries he has ever seen as out-of-hours services are extended to cope with the crisis.
Across the country, schools and small businesses are expected to suffer as the effects of a virus hits thousands of teachers and other workers.
Although, Northamptonshire County Council – the local education authority – said its schools had contingency plans so they are unlikely to close, the illness was still taking its toll across Northampton.
Dr Kamal Sood, a GP at the Abington Park Surgery and chair of the out-of-hours doctors service at Northampton General Hospital, said waiting rooms have been full to bursting.
He said: "This winter has been the worst on record here in terms of the volume of patients; the worst I have seen in my 20 years.
"We currently have a phenomenal rise in what we have to do.
"At the out-of-hours surgery we have put nurses, doctors and receptionists on extra shifts and we have still found it difficult to get everything done as rapidly as we would like."
Dr Sood said the virus – which has a variety of symptoms from classic flu-like signs like a runny nose and sore throat to gastroenteritis – had been "particularly virulent".
But he added that jam-packed waiting rooms would have been eased had more people sought diagnosis from a pharmacist or NHS Direct and treated themselves at home with paracetemol, Nurofen, menthol and steam.
The only people who need to visit a doctor with flu-like symptoms are the elderly and those with suppressed immune symptoms, like some cancer patients.
Health experts recommend that anyone with a contagious virus should try to stay at home to minimise its spread, particularly since the Norovirus – or winter vomiting disease – is spreading fast around the country.
Northampton General Hospital said it has not had an outbreak of Norovirus since November but warned visitors to take precautions because of how easily the bug is passed on.
He said: "Our current visiting restrictions are designed to minimise the risk ofNorovirus and other infections from being brought into the hospital.
"We would ask anyone who is, or has been, unwell not to visit the hospital until they have been free of symptoms for at least 48 hours."
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Weather for Northampton
Thursday 09 February 2012
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