Flu activity in Scotland has decreased for the second consecutive week, though the Health Secretary has warned the virus will continue to spread over the festive season and into February and March.<\/p>\n
The latest figures from Public Health Scotland show lab-confirmed flu cases were down to 1,297 for the week ending December 21.<\/p>\n
This was a decrease of 35% from the previous week\u2019s figure of 1,994.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, there were 679 hospital admissions due to influenza in the week ending December 21, down from 950 in the previous week.<\/p>\n
Read More:<\/strong><\/p>\n Health Secretary Neil Gray<\/a> urged those eligible to take up the flu vaccine.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cVaccination remains the best protection against the virus and I encourage everyone who is eligible to come forward for theirs if they have not yet done so.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Gray continued: \u201cAs of 21 December, more than 1.3 million adult flu vaccines have been delivered \u2013 over 111,000 more than this point last winter.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition, more than 516,000 children have had their vaccine, bringing the total number of flu vaccinations delivered this season to over 1.8 million.<\/p>\n \u201cRecent data suggests that flu activity has started to decrease, but we typically see activity across January, February and March.<\/p>\n \u201cIncreased socialising this festive season will continue to spread the virus, so we are urging those eligible to get vaccinated and help protect each other and our NHS this winter.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this week, John Swinney<\/a> urged Scots to go to accident and emergency only if they have a \u201cgenuine emergency\u201d.<\/p>\n