{"id":665537,"date":"2025-12-31T22:10:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/665537\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T22:10:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:10:17","slug":"flu-cases-decrease-in-northern-ireland-over-christmas-holidays-following-winter-spike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/665537\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu cases decrease in Northern Ireland over Christmas holidays following winter spike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) activity has decreased across the majority of surveillance indicators, while Covid-19 activity remains low and stable, the PHA said.<\/p>\n

A week 52 summary, from 22-28 December, details 624 unique episodes of influenza. <\/p>\n

For RSV, 103 unique episodes were identified and for Covid-19 there were 36.<\/p>\n

That compares to the peak in cases during the last week of November and start of December. <\/p>\n

In week 49, December 1-7, there were 1,227 positive flu cases, 131 RSV cases and 62 Covid.<\/p>\n

As the peak struck, Ebrington Primary School in Derry had 170 pupils off due to sickness, which forced the principal to consider a part closure on health and safety grounds.<\/p>\n

The downward trajectory of cases reflects a trend across the UK.<\/p>\n

British Medical Association NI Council chair Dr Alan Stout said: \u201cIt\u2019s good to see cases going down with fewer people being admitted to hospital easing the pressure on the system.<\/p>\n

\"Dr<\/p>\n

Dr Alan Stout<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever there are still a lot of cases in the community. Flu season normally has 2-3 spikes and while the next spikes should be less severe we would still recommend those who can get the vaccine.”<\/p>\n

\"PHA<\/p>\n

PHA chart showing a spike in cases at the end of November\/start of December, before dropping over recent weeks<\/p>\n

Seasonal influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a contagious viral infection that re-emerges each year during the colder months.<\/p>\n

Caused by influenza viruses, the flu spreads through respiratory droplets when infected individuals cough, sneeze, or talk.<\/p>\n

There are two main types of influenza that cause illness, A which usually causes more severe illness and B which can also cause infection and is more common in children, but is generally milder.<\/p>\n

Influenza and RSV episode rates across council areas show that Derry City & Strabane had the highest influenza episode rate in week 52 at 43.8 per 100,000 population.<\/p>\n

Ards and North Down had the highest RSV episode rate in week 52 at 10.4 per 100,000 population.<\/p>\n

There were 2,838 total influenza tests with 23.3% positivity and 1,182 RSV tests performed with 9.0% positivity.<\/p>\n

For Covid-19, there were 2,795 tests performed and a much lower positivity rate at 1.4%.<\/p>\n

Total positivity was highest in the 15-44 age group for influenza at 30.8% positivity, the 0-4 age group for RSV at 37.8% positivity and the 75+ age group for Covid-19 at 1.9% positivity.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Image of a child receiving the flu vaccine. Stock image<\/p>\n

News Catch Up – Wednesday 31 December <\/p>\n

There were four confirmed outbreaks reported in care home settings to the PHA.<\/p>\n

Of the 272 new community-acquired emergency admissions, 215 were influenza A, one was influenza B, 43 were RSV and 13 were Covid-19.<\/p>\n

Community-acquired emergency admission rates were highest in the 75+ age group for influenza at 55.4 per 100,000 population, the 0-4 age group for RSV at 34.5 per 100,000 population and the 75+ age group for Covid-19 at 4.6 per 100,000 population.<\/p>\n

Community-acquired emergency influenza inpatients increased post-holidays to levels similar to previous weeks.<\/p>\n

Community-acquired emergency RSV and Covid-19 inpatients have remained stable.<\/p>\n

The PHA said the 2025\/26 influenza vaccine provides good protection against influenza A hospital admissions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) activity has decreased across the majority of surveillance indicators, while Covid-19 activity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[22305,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-665537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-garrett-hargan","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115816472982379291","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}