IRELAND: Director of Dublin Children's Hospitals says that the city's facilities are "under great pressure."

Due to the large number of unwell children visiting emergency rooms and the number of very sick children already receiving care, children's hospitals all across Dublin are experiencing significant pressure.

Children's Health Ireland reports that staff at Temple Street, Crumlin, Tallaght, and Connolly hospitals are under tremendous strain due to the high demand for services. To help alleviate the situation, they ask families to whenever possible bring their children to nearby hospitals and care facilities for less serious illnesses.

Children who were born during the appropriate lockdown measures during Covid-19 are frequently experiencing these illnesses for the first time, according to CHI Clinical Director Dr. Ike Okafor, who claimed that the situation has arisen as a result of a "perfect storm" of high levels of viruses in the community.

Additionally, several critically ill babies that require urgent care have been seen in our EDs. These sickest kids deserve to receive our full attention, Okafor added.

"Management and clinical teams are looking into every possibility to support safe staffing in our EDs, critical care units, and wards.

"We have already dispatched workers throughout our campuses, and we sincerely appreciate everything each staff member is doing to keep our hospitals running. It goes beyond what is required, he continued.

The flu vaccine, which can be obtained for free at a nearby GP or pharmacy, helps protect children against the flu, according to CHI. Children and young people between the ages of 2 and 17 can receive it.

This winter has been particularly challenging for the health system due to an increase in instances of the flu, Group Strep A, and respiratory syncytial virus.

The majority of Group Strep A infections are minor and responsive to antibiotic therapy.

Taking Over Group When the bacteria enters areas of the body where they are not typically found, like the lungs or bloodstream, a strepoccurs (iGAS) happens. Despite being rare, it has the potential to be lethal and to cause major sickness.

Following the announcement that a kid died in Belfast from a sickness connected to the bacterial infection Strep A, it has been established that an infant in Ireland has died from iGAS.

Parents should be aware that the majority of Group Strep A infections are minor and treatable with medication, according to CMO Professor Breda Smyth.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has been notified of 55 iGAS cases in Ireland this year, 21 if which were reported since the beginning of October, four of which were in children.