{"id":358833,"date":"2026-01-08T11:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T11:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/358833\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T11:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T11:21:09","slug":"hospital-admissions-rise-as-flu-and-norovirus-cases-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/358833\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospital admissions rise as flu and norovirus cases surge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hospital admissions have increased due to a rise in flu and norovirus cases over the past few weeks, Mater Dei Hospital has confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>Officials told Times of Malta there has been an increase in cases compared to the same period last year, particularly due to the early start of the flu season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore people are experiencing flu-like symptoms earlier in the season, which is also reflected in increased hospital admissions,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>Mater Dei said there has also been an increase in cases of gastric illness, primarily due to norovirus, which is a common cause of viral gastroenteritis.<\/p>\n<p>A family doctor told Times of Malta he had noted an increase in patients suffering from influenza. Three of his patients developed pneumonia and two were hospitalised.<\/p>\n<p>A shift in virus strains, reduced population immunity, increased indoor gatherings during cooler weather, or insufficient vaccination coverage were all cited by the hospital as potential factors behind the increase.<\/p>\n<p>The hospital strongly urged people to take the influenza vaccine, especially vulnerable groups like the elderly, people with chronic illnesses and healthcare workers.<\/p>\n<p>People have also been urged to practise regular hand hygiene, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow, stay home if sick to prevent spreading the virus and clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces.<\/p>\n<p>A rise in influenza cases and an <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofmalta.com\/article\/winter-flu-season-hits-early-putting-pressure-doctors.1121324\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">early start <\/a>to the flu season have been reported across Europe. The spike is being driven by a newly emerged influenza strain, A(H3N2) subclade K, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Times of Malta, a public health expert, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that many of the patients who have contracted influenza in Malta have this strain.<\/p>\n<p>The influenza vaccine covers this strain, so anyone who took the vaccine and contracts this strain will be protected from suffering complications, the expert added.<\/p>\n<p>The expert pointed out that, while the number of influenza cases has increased, they are experiencing low vaccination levels \u2013 lower than the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>Public health authorities aim to vaccinate around 70 to 80 per cent of the population every year but, this time, vaccination levels were \u201cmuch lower\u201d, the official said.<\/p>\n<p><p>RELATED STORIES<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>They attributed the decline in vaccinations to the bad reputation vaccines received during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVaccines had received a lot of backlash. Now, they are all being grouped together and people are suffering as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said that keeping vaccination rates high is <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofmalta.com\/article\/watch-keeping-vaccination-rates-essential-charmaine-gauci.1121016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">essential<\/a> to save lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hospital admissions have increased due to a rise in flu and norovirus cases over the past few weeks,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-358833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}