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Moderate increases in influenza this winter have a significant impact on admissions to hospital intensive care units and addiction units, according to the latest figures.
GPs reported an increase in the number of visits with patients reporting flu-like symptoms during the second week of January, while admission rates for suspected influenza had a moderate impact on hospitals in general.
This season's influenza vaccine seems to match the strains circulating in the community, health officials said.
Influenza Surveillance Report
The latest weekly number of Public Health England (PHE) shows that compared to the previous week:
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GP visits with flu-like illness increased from 14.8 to 19.2 per 100,000
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Hospital admission rates increased from 3.54 to 4.75 per 100,000.
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Intensive care admission rate increased from 0.42 to 0.50 per 100,000
ILI rates remained below the baseline in Scotland, at low intensity levels in Northern Ireland and at average intensity levels in Wales.
GP rates for flu-like symptoms per 100,000 population were 25.6 in Scotland, 20.4 in Wales and 18.9 in Northern Ireland.
The surveillance report also showed no statistically significant excess of mortality from all causes, neither in the community nor in any age group.
Subtype A Predominant virus
Microbiological surveillance showed that the dominant subtype was influenza A (H1N1) pdm09.
Of the 640 secondary care samples, 41.9% were positive for influenza A (H1N1) pdm09, 17% for influenza A (H3), 40.1% for influenza A (not subtyped) and 0.5% for influenza B.
Richard Pebody, head of flu at PHE, said: "Last week, hospital and ICU admission rates increased slightly, which means that the flu is starting to have an impact. These increases are typical for this time of year.
"We are currently mainly observing an influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 virus, which is consistent with the strains contained in this year's influenza vaccines."
Influenza vaccine uptake
Preliminary figures showed that the proportion of people in the target groups in England who received the influenza vaccine was 45.7% in those under 65 in a clinical risk group, 44.2% in pregnant women and 70.5% among people aged 65 and over.
This year, for the first time, people over the age of 65 have been offered the newly available trivalent adjuvant flu vaccine to boost the immune response, although pharmacists have reported supply difficulties early in life. season.
People in the youngest groups at risk were offered a quadrivalent influenza vaccine.
For children from grade to grade 5, absorption ranged from 43.7% to 49.6%, with provisional numbers for the month ending 30th November 2018 showed.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) said it was not too late for people with underlying conditions to be vaccinated. Prof. Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of RCGP, said: "It is encouraging to see confirmation that this year's vaccine is well-adapted to influenza strains in circulation, so we are confident that those who are eligible for it will benefit from they need it, but there are still at-risk patients who have not had it, and the flu can sometimes be pbaded on until early spring. "
Vaccination among front-line health workers
PHE figures showed that 61% of eligible primary health care workers had received the influenza vaccine by the end of November 2018, an increase of 1.7% (or 36,992 employees) over at the same time of the previous year.
Although the coverage is significantly lower than the national target of 75% badimilation of front-line health workers, the overall figure for this season marks a significant improvement over the 50.6% coverage. recorded in 2015-2016.
Last month, NHS Employers said that 36 trusts in England had reached the national goal. He said more recent figures would be released on Thursday.
In a response earlier this month to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Report on Influenza Vaccination in England, the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSC) agreed that the difference the current flu immunization trust between health care workers was "unacceptable".
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