Cases of flu serious enough to lead to hospitalisation are surging and are only likely to get worse as people come together over the festive season, NHS England has warned.
The service has said cases in hospital have already surpassed last year’s peak, as festive infections ‘flood’ hospitals early this winter.
The latest weekly figures show that one in 20 hospital beds are being taken up or closed by a festive bug, with 2,504 general and acute beds alone being taken up by flu patients – an increase of almost 40% on last week’s 1,795.
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There were a total of 2,629 patients with flu in hospital last week, including 125 in critical care beds – up 90% on the week 66 reported in the week of 8 December.
Cases of norovirus and RSV also remain high, with 711 beds taken up by norovirus patients, almost a quarter more than last year.
A total of 127 children were in hospital with RSV each day last week, a quarter more children when compared to the same period last year (or 94 in the week of 17 December, 2023).
Winter viruses are expected to rise in the coming weeks as children finish school and families and friends congregate at Christmas parties and gatherings, which contributes to the increased spread of viruses, NHS England also warned.
Staff were working hard to protect those most at risk of becoming seriously ill from flu, Covid-19 and RSV this winter with fears around the ‘quad-demic’ continuing, it added. In all, NHS England staff had now delivered a total of 28.5 million vaccines since the start of September.
The NHS 111 service answered one of the highest number of calls for this time of year last week, with 395,861 calls picked up by handlers, almost 10,000 more than last year.
NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “The NHS has been hit hard with an early festive flu season, putting increased pressure on staff as they prepare for the long winter ahead of us.
“As children finish school and friends and families congregate over the Christmas period we expect viruses to continue to spread so if you haven’t got your flu jab and are eligible please come forward, and the public should think twice about seeing loved ones if they are seriously unwell,” he added.
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