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The NHS has issued an update on winter virsuses hitting hospitals hard this summer.
The latest figures show hospital cases have fallen slightly in England, but doctors warned the NHS is ‘not out of danger yet’ as winter viruses are still circulating.
The so-called super flu refers to an illness that seems to be hitting harder and lasting for longer than expected.
This year’s flu season also started a month earlier, while a drifted influenza A(H3N2) strain – also known as subclade K – is currently dominating cases in England, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
In new figures published today the NHS confirmed that hospital flu cases surpassed 3,000 in the week before Christmas – a slight fall on the previous week but hospitals were still left rammed, the service said.
Across the UK last week around 95 per cent of adult beds were filled and 94,118 patients were in hospital each day. However NHS England praised staff for ramping up fly jabs, with half a million more people vaccinated than at this time last year.
Meanwhile other winter viruses continue to place a strain on the health service, with 707 patients in hospital with Covid on average, while 285 patients a day were in hospital with norovirus last week.
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