02 January 2015 02 Jan 2015

Midwives key to the winter illness fight

Winter is now upon us and as the heating is turned up, the cold and flu season begins. Over recent years, hospitals in England have coped with significant seasonal spikes in hospital admissions for bronchiolitis, a common respiratory infection, which affects vulnerable infants. Rising by around 50% over the last 10 years, bronchiolitis creates an annual burden on paediatric services and is now the most common cause of infant hospital admissions (Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network, 2013).