A GP has issued urgent advice to parents of toddlers amid a rise in children being hospitalised with a winter illness. There has been a rise in the number of typically healthy children going to hospitals across Greater Manchester with flu, according to a top doctor.
Some children have even faced intensive care treatment as the flu season takes hold, says Dr Helen Wall, a Bolton GP and the Clinical Director Population Health for Greater Manchester. The doctor added common viruses have “got their mojo back” this year following protective measures taken during the pandemic, which reduced the spread of not only coronavirus but other regular winter illnesses.
The GP is encouraging “any parent” of a child in the two to three-year-old age group to get them vaccinated, with important advice on how old they have to be to get it. A nasal spray against the flu is on offer for young children through GP practices, but historically the region has seen a low uptake of the children’s vaccine.
