Swine flu forces children’s hospitals to limit admissions

THE country’s three children’s hospitals have been forced to cancel all non-emergency admissions and restrict visitors to wards after becoming inundated with patients suffering from swine flu symptoms.

In a joint statement yesterday, Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Temple Street, and the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght said they were forced into the move due to the rapid rise in infections.

Under the new restrictions, anyone who is not a parent or direct guardian of a patient will be unable to visit them during their stay.

Planned elective surgeries and admissions will also be delayed for a number of weeks. The hospitals have stressed emergency cases will continue to be treated.

The policy change was announced after 14-year-old Ashley Lynch became the second teenager from the Foyleview Special School in Derry to die from swine flu, after 14-year-old pupil Orla O’Kane died last week.

Ashley is the eighth person to die after contracting the virus in the North, and the fifth confirmed swine flu case at the school.

Speaking before the death was confirmed, the children’s hospitals said the new restrictions were vital to protect vulnerable children from an outbreak.

The restrictions at the children’s hospitals came after figures from the US showed a rapid rise in child mortality rates from swine flu in the past seven weeks.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), up to the end of last week the US has had 86 swine flu-related deaths in people under the age of 16.

The latest figures for Ireland are due to be released later today and are expected to show a further increase in the number of cases.