Flu cases continue to rise with ‘no peak in sight’

The NHS is facing an ‘unprecedented’ flu wave this winter with an average 1,717 patients in hospital every day last week because of flu.

Cases were 10 times higher than the same week in 2023 (160) and more than 50% higher than last year (1,098), according to the latest NHS figures. 

There is ‘no peak in sight yet’ said England’s national medical director for urgent and emergency care, Professor Julian Redhead, so the rising number of cases are set to coincide with industrial action which could see thousands of resident doctors walking out. 

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Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said that although the NHS acted earlier than ever to stem the number of flu cases, ‘this progress is being put in real jeopardy by the BMA's leadership, whose reckless behaviour to time industrial action at the height of winter, will put more patients are risk and bear down hard on their NHS colleagues in the run up to Christmas’.

Yet the NHS is ‘determined’ that industrial action won’t derail the progress being made and it has encouraged patients to turn to pharmacies instead.

Pharmacies can provide quick, easy support, including prescription-only medicines for common conditions like sore throat, sinusitis and earache, NHS England said in a statement.

Professor Redhead added: ‘Today’s numbers confirm our deepest concerns: the health service is bracing for an unprecedented flu wave this winter. Cases are incredibly high for this time of year and there is no peak in sight yet.

‘The NHS has prepared earlier for winter than ever before, but despite that we know that ballooning flu cases coinciding with strikes may stretch our staff close to breaking point in the coming weeks.’

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The flu vaccine remains the best protection against severe illness and hospitalisation, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and it has urged all eligible groups to come forward for their flu and RSV vaccinations.

The NHS has already delivered almost 17 million flu jabs, which is 350,000 more than this time last year.

‘We will do all we can to weather this storm. I am determined that with the proper planning, record investment and modernisation this government is bringing in, we'll have a more resilient NHS for this winter and beyond,’ Mr Streeting added. 

Last week, the medicines regulator reaffirmed that childhood vaccination is safe and effective, citing 'multiple large, well-conducted studies involving millions of children worldwide’, which  have ‘consistently demonstrated that there is no evidence that vaccines cause autism in children’.

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Thousands of community pharmacies have signed up to deliver flu vaccines to two- and three-year-olds this year as a one-season pilot running until 31 March 2026.

The Pharmacist recently spoke to virologist Dr Phillip Gould, about the ‘unusually early start’ to this year’s flu season which he attributed to higher levels of flu virus and lower vaccination rates in Australia.