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UK Health Security Agency gov.uk

Flu levels low at start of season but higher than previous 4 years

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UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published the first of its weekly winter respiratory virus surveillance reports, based on a range of indicators provided by GPs, hospitals, laboratories and the wider community.

The surveillance report for week 40 (28 September and 4 October 2026) shows: 

  • influenza activity increased and is circulating at baseline levels
  • flu positivity increased with a positivity rate of 6.5% compared with 5% on the previous week
  • overall, flu hospitalisations were 1.97 per 100,000. This surveillance formally starts in week 40 so a comparison to the previous week is not possible

    • Flu activity throughout September has been higher than in the same period during all past 4 winter seasons. While still at baseline (very low) levels, flu trends have been rising since August and there are possible signs that we may see an early flu season.

  • the increases in flu are being driven by young adults
  • COVID-19 activity is increasing and above baseline, although still at low levels
  • the strains currently circulating, including those known as XFG, are closely related to strains seen here for over a year
  • Rhinovirus activity, otherwise known as the cold common, has now started to decline after a sharp rise in activity in previous weeks
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) activity remains at baseline levels with very low levels of the virus circulating

    • Flu viruses change every year, which is why flu vaccines are updated annually. Some years ‘drifted’ flu viruses occur, which means the virus that is circulating has continued to evolve and has some genetic changes from the one that was used to make the vaccine. 

    A recent World Health Organization (WHO) technical report has indicated that one of the flu A(H1N1) viruses that has recently been seen at low levels in Europe, and recently in the UK, has ‘drifted’ compared to the virus component used in this year’s flu vaccine. Last year we also saw a ‘drifted’ A(H3N2) flu virus, but the vaccines still gave good protection.

    This is an extract. The publication continues at the source.

    Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Licence

    Read the original at the source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/flu-levels-low-at-start-of-season-but-higher-than-previous-4-years

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    UK Health Security Agency — imported from official source
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    https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency.atom ATOM
    Imported
    October 08, 2026 14:00
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    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/flu-levels-low-at-start-of-season-but-higher-than-pr...

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