Mary McCool,BBC Scotlandand
Andrew Picken,Senior data journalist
Getty Images
Confirmed cases of flu in Scotland have more than doubled in the space of a week.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) figures show that in the week of 24-30 November, lab-confirmed cases rose sharply to 1,759 compared with 845 the previous week.
Hospital admissions as a result of the illness also rose by 70%, from 426 to 724.
PHS said cases had reached medium activity levels, and that this comes two weeks earlier than in previous flu seasons.
Earlier this week, Health Secretary Neil Gray said Scotland was facing a “challenging” strain of the illness, but assured the public that there were adequate stocks of flu vaccine.
Experts warned at the start of November that the UK would have a long, drawn-out flu season and that a new variant of flu was spreading more easily.
Scotland’s flu season started earlier than usual with a sharp rise in mid-November.
Flu-like illness has now increased in all groups, but to a higher intensity in the younger age groups – ages one to four and five to 14.
However, about 40% of hospital admissions were people aged 65 and over – which PHS said was broadly consistent with previous flu seasons.
According to National Records of Scotland, there were 17 deaths provisionally registered with flu as the underlying cause and 21 where flu was mentioned on the death certificate.
Those figures, respectively, were 137 and 171 at the peak of the last winter flu season – most of which were people over the age of 80.
This week BBC Scotland News contacted all 14 health boards and 32 councils to find out about the impact of the flu spike on hospitals and schools.
Of those who responded, some noted that pupil absences were broadly in line with previous years, though East Lothian Council had a higher pupil absence rate compared with the same week last year.
Midlothian Council said its school staff absence rate was “high” for a variety of reasons including colds/flu.
More health boards responded, all broadly saying flu cases were higher this year, with some introducing ward restrictions or face coverings as precautions.
NHS Grampian said 33 people were in hospital with the illness across the region after a “sharp increase”, and flu patients took up one in every 35 beds at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
A spokesperson added: “We currently have around 560% more patients in hospital with flu than at the same time last year.”
The health board for Ayrshire and Arran has suspended routine visits across all hospitals. This will be reviewed daily.
Glasgow’s health board has been telling patients to stay at home to treat themselves, and to avoid A&E when suffering mild or moderate flu symptoms.
Dumfries and Galloway’s medical director has also urged people not to visit hospitals, care homes, or other healthcare settings if they are unwell.
Concerns have been raised this week over the availability of flu vaccinations.
Community Pharmacy Scotland said members were seeing increased demand for private flu vaccinations, and some were “out of stock”.
They added that some people who are eligible for the NHS vaccine are turning to community pharmacies to get their jab “sooner or more conveniently”, which is “putting pressure on private stocks”.
Neil Gray said the Scottish government had “no concern” about the matter, adding there is more than “adequate stocks” of the jab.
He added: “The challenge we face this year is the early and fast rise of flu cases.
“We know that the vaccine does stop hospitalisations, it does have a good effect at suppressing both the illness that people suffer and the spread, so my encouragement has been for people that are eligible to pick up the vaccine to do so.”
Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said the latest figures were a “cause for concern” and urged the Scottish government to improve vaccine uptake.
“There are 400,000 fewer adults vaccinated now than there were this time two years ago, while children’s vaccination rates are down and some areas have not even started vaccinations yet,” she said.
Everyone eligible for a flu jab should have received a text message, a phone call or a letter by now but they could go onto the NHS Inform website, and book an appointment.
What are the main symptoms of flu?
- A sudden, intense fever
- Breathing difficulties
- Severe chest pains
- Aches all over
- Feeling hot and cold
- Feeling lethargic
- Having sensitive skin
- Suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea