WITH winter just around the corner, flock keepers in Fermanagh are being urged to prepare for the increasing threat of bird flu. The warning comes after a case of the disease, officially known as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N5, was confirmed in Yorkshire at the start of November. It was the first detection in the UK since […]
A long winter ahead for Fermanagh health service
LOCAL health campaigners have warned the patients of Fermanagh are facing “the most dramatic winter for healthcare” this year, with moves elsewhere in the health service expected to put even more pressure on our already-struggling system. Last week it was confirmed the Northern Trust had proposed moving all emergency general surgery (EGS) to one hospital, […]
Avian flu is a major threat to rural farming
FARMERS in Fermanagh have been left in fear that a rapidly spreading avian flu could be transferred to animals and cattle in the North. For almost 30 years, avian flu has posed a major threat to rural farming and fears are mounting after the deadly and potentially fatal H5N1 strain has been detected in cattle […]
Pharmacy boss warns over shortage of medicines
“I AM over 30 years in this job, and I have never witnessed anything like this before.” These are the worried words of Liam Bradley –a local pharmacist who owns 13 community chemists in Fermanagh and Tyrone. As ‘the worst flu outbreak in 20 years’ continues to spread, sick people are increasingly finding themselves being shooed away […]
Public asked to ‘play your part’ in easing health pressures
Patients have been asked to use services most appropriate for their condition, and to stay at home if they have symptoms of a respiratory infection.
People with flu and Covid symptoms should stay at home
HEALTH officials have urged the public to stay at home if they develop Covid-19 or flu-like symptoms over the Christmas period. Fermanagh people have been warned to be extremely cautious while out and about shopping, commuting, and socialising this Christmas after a huge spike in Covid and flu cases this month. Mask-wearing on public transport, in shops, […]
SWAH at full capacity as winter pressures hit hard
THE SOUTH West Acute Hospital is currently operating at full capacity, with patients currently having to wait to be admitted, however only a small percentage of its inpatients are being treated for Covid. At the time of gong to print on Tuesday there were currently 20 Covid patients at SWAH, none of whom were being […]
‘Phenomenal’ demand as flu jab stocks running low
FLU clinics across the county are in full swing with demand for the seasonal flu vaccine this year “exceptionally high” due to the ongoing pandemic. Demand is so great that more vaccines have been distributed in the past few weeks than the entirety of previous flu seasons. Due to the level of demand a “temporary […]
Health staff are urged to get the jab
FERMANAGH’S frontline health workers have been urged to get their flu jab this year, even if they’ve never had one before, after it emerged less than a third of staff at the Western Trust had taken up the vaccine last year. Flu vaccines are not mandatory for health workers, however with the Covid crisis continuing, […]
NHS ‘will not cope’ with flu outbreak and second wave
AS MANY people as possible in Fermanagh are being urged to get this year’s flu vaccine, with fears the local health service will struggle to cope with the double whammy of a flu outbreak and a second wave of Covid this winter. In fact, the public have been warned evidence suggests that catching both the […]