Britain is being hit by a wave of festive flu, health chiefs warned today.
Surveillance programs monitoring the outbreak in the United Kingdom suggest that flu hospital admissions in England have already surpassed last year’s peak and are reaching their highest level so far this winter.
Figures show that more than 2,500 beds have been occupied by flu patients, an increase of almost 50 per cent on last week (1,800).
Meanwhile, rates of norovirus, the winter vomiting bug, are also nearly 25 percent higher than expected for this time of year.
Health chiefs fear outbreaks will continue to accelerate in the coming weeks as a result of more people socializing indoors over Christmas and New Year.
They urged people with a cough, sore throat or runny nose to limit contact with vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying illnesses, for fear of becoming seriously ill from the virus.
It comes as experts have already warned the health service must prepare for a “quadraemia” driven by the four winter illnesses – flu, Covid, norovirus and cold-like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
RSV, which is most common in infants and young children, was 25 percent higher in the week ending Dec. 17 than a year earlier.
Surveillance programs monitoring the outbreak in the United Kingdom suggest that flu hospital admissions in England have already surpassed last year’s peak and are reaching their highest level so far this winter.
NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “The NHS has been hit hard by an early festive flu season, increasing pressure on staff as they prepare for the long winter ahead.” .
‘In response to the spate of flu cases so early in the season, the NHS has been making it as easy as possible for people to protect themselves with the vaccine, including vaccination centers in supermarket car parks and football clubs.
‘As children finish school and friends and families gather over the Christmas period, we expect viruses to continue to spread.
“So if you have not received the flu vaccine and are eligible, please come forward, and the public should think twice before seeing their loved ones if they are seriously ill.”
“I would remind anyone who needs medical assistance to continue to use 999 and A&E in an emergency and for everything else to use NHS 111 or 111 online.”
People over 65, people with long-term health conditions, pregnant women, nursing home residents and caregivers can receive a free vaccine.
There are signs that calls have been heard for eligible Britons to roll up their sleeves and take a jab.
NHS England said staff had delivered a total of 28.5 million vaccines since the beginning of September.
Today is the last day to book winter vaccines online or via NHS 111 to make an appointment at a local vaccination site.
From Friday, Britons will only be able to visit a Covid vaccination site without an appointment or attend a pharmacy to receive the vaccine.
Fears of a bad flu year come just days after experts warned this year’s flu vaccine could be 30 percent less effective than expected.
The flu vaccine is changed each year based on data from southern hemisphere countries such as Australia and New Zealand, which have their winter season six months earlier than Britain.
This is because the same types of flu that affected those countries tend to cause the majority of cases in the UK.
However, sometimes this prediction is wrong.
In 2017, a mismatched flu vaccine was responsible for an extra 50,000 deaths in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Data suggests that the flu vaccine used in the southern hemisphere, on which the one being rolled out in the UK is based, could be up to 30 per cent less effective than normal.
Experts consider a successful flu vaccine to be one that prevents people from needing hospital care for the virus in about 7 out of 10 cases.
However, data from countries such as Australia and New Zealand suggest that the latest vaccine only stopped 4 in 10 hospitalizations.
Flu, also called influenza, is responsible for around 40,000 hospitalizations and more than 10,000 deaths in the UK each year, although this figure can be higher in bad years.
Symptoms usually include fever, sore throat, muscle aches, and cough.