Influenza season might have come early, but it’s a familiar story

The 2025-26 influenza season in Ireland arrived earlier and more intensely than usual.

A sharp rise in cases and hospital admissions occurred across the country, weeks ahead of the typical winter peak, raising concerns about the ability of the acute system to cope.

According to figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the heightened activity is largely attributable to the A(H3N2) variant.

A total of 418 cases were reported in hospitals in the week ending 29 November, compared to just 213 in the previous week.

Given the rapid rise in cases, the HSE called on all eligible people to get vaccinated at the beginning of the month. The Executive’s vaccination programme for influenza and Covid-19 had commenced at the start of October.

In addition to urging uptake among people in at-risk groups, HSE Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry also appealed directly to healthcare workers, emphasising the importance of protecting both staff and patients as influenza activity continued to escalate.

The call for healthcare workers and members of the public to avail of the vaccine was echoed by the President of the Medical Council, Dr Suzanne Crowe, and CEO Dr Maria O’Kane.

While the early onset may have come as a shock, it would be difficult to argue that it was entirely unforeseen.

Indeed, Irish Nurses and Midwives General Secretary, Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said the HSE had “not learned any lessons from over 20 years of flu-related hospital overcrowding”. “Flu season is well flagged,” said Ms Ní Sheaghdha. “It happens every single year, yet it is clear that no contingency plans are in place. There is no point in trying to deal with a crisis when we are mid-flow.”

Dr Peadar Gilligan, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, and member of the IMO consultant committee, made similar comments.

Dr Gilligan said that the surge in patients needing hospital beds has again highlighted the shortage of beds in the system. 

He pointed out that hospitals in our health service usually run at 97 per cent to 110 per cent occupancy.

“This allows for little or no capacity to deal with any increase in workload,” Dr Gilligan said.

He rightly noted that the rise in emergency department attendances and the associated increased numbers requiring admission leads to “real challenges” in providing safe care.

This problem is one the Irish health service has been struggling with for decades, including during the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

Once again, hospitals have entered winter with little spare capacity and no meaningful buffer against predictable surges in demand.

Until long-standing deficits in bed capacity, workforce planning and winter preparedness are addressed, each influenza season will continue to expose the same structural failures – with patients and staff left to bear the consequences.

As this is the final issue of the Medical Independent in 2025, we wish all our readers a Happy Christmas and New Year.