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Stays in hospital beds 'rise because of the flu'

10/11/2009

Stays in hospital beds 'rise because of the flu'The number of people who required a stay in a hospital during July because of the flu was dramatically higher than normal, the latest figures have shown.

Among working-age men and women, the impact of swine flu in the summer months caused the number of bed days spent in hospital to increase.

Figures from the NHS Information Centre show the number of bed days taken up by flu increased almost 20 times year-on-year, from 207 in July 2008 to 3,976 in July 2009.

One bed day is the equivalent of one person needing a hospital bed for one day.

Speaking to Healthcare Republic, Tim Straughan, chief executive of the NHS Information Centre, said: "The peak in bed days taken up by flu in July 2009 is especially interesting as this is outside the normal flu season."

In May, the number of bed days taken up by flu also increased, up 26 per cent compared to the same month in 2008, while during June it increased 118 per cent.

Bed days occupied by those aged 60 or over accounted for 40 per cent of the total in 2008 but just 22 per cent in 2009.

Swine flu cases rose slightly again last week, with an estimated 84,000 new infections against 78,000 the week previously.

Posted by Jez Walters.

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