Poland is struggling with a wave of influenza and flu-like infections. – In the last week before Christmas, we had nearly 300,000 infections. This means that on average there are about 40-50 thousand of them a day. This was the case during the worst times of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Health Minister Adam Niedzielski in an interview with TVN24.
More and more flu infections. There are signals about difficulties with buying medicines
Published Dec. 27, 2022 09:09
Fot. Wojciech Górski
The most difficult situation is in paediatrics. “The flu-related illnesses we are dealing with to a greater extent concerned children. Pediatric wards are heavily booked. We will do everything to keep the situation under control. We currently have 10,000 jobs. from 14 thousand pediatric beds. However, there are discrepancies across regions. In Podkarpacie, Małopolska and Lubelskie, the occupancy rate is very high, approaching 100%. – indicated the Minister of Health.
As the head of the Ministry of Health added, two years of isolation related to the Covid-19 pandemic meant that we had no natural contact with pathogens. Because of this, our immune systems have become accustomed to the flu virus. Poor air quality also doesn't help in dealing with upper respiratory tract infections.
Meanwhile, there are more and more signals about difficulties with access to antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs.
– We note a much higher demand than in previous years. On the other hand, the supply was increased by nearly one million pieces of packaging, but this is not enough. Potential local shortages result from the distribution chain, because on a national scale we have stocks of medicines for several months - said Adam Niedzielski.
