Flu EXPLOSION! Number of Brits with bad flu quadruples in one month – 3.5 times last year’s toll as experts warn of ‘dangerous’ weekend ahead

Britain is being hit by a ‘skyrocketing’ tidal wave of flu, health chiefs warned today.

Surveillance programs monitoring England’s outbreak suggest flu hospital admissions are four times as many as a month ago.

Figures show that more than 4,500 beds alone were occupied by flu patients each day last week, a 3.5-fold increase on the same week last year.

Of these, 211 were in critical care – an increase of 69 per cent on the previous week.

More than 4,100 Britons also spent Christmas Day in hospital with flu. By 29 December this had risen to over 5,000.

The incidence of the winter vomiting bug norovirus, meanwhile, is also 40 percent higher than expected at this time of year.

Health chiefs fear the ‘extreme’ and ‘dangerous’ cold spells set to hit Britain this weekend will continue to put pressure on already stretched hospitals.

According to the latest forecast, Britain will see temperatures drop to as low as -10C with weather warnings in place across much of England and Scotland for snow.

Experts also said they expect ‘things to get worse before they get better’ as more people socialize indoors over the Christmas and New Year period.

Professor Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, said: ‘These latest figures show that the pressure from flu was nowhere near letting up before we went into the new year, rising to over 5,000 cases per day at the hospital per end of last week and rising at a very worrying rate.

‘On top of flu, there is also constant pressure from Covid, while RSV and norovirus hospital cases are also higher than last year, with hospitals introducing an extra 1,300 beds last week than the same time last year in anticipation of this continued pressure from viruses and other demand.

“With what looks like extreme cold expected across England ahead of the weekend, we know the low temperatures can be dangerous for those who are vulnerable or have respiratory problems.

So if you’re in danger, try to stay warm and make sure you’re stocked up on regular medicine.

“Please continue to use NHS 111 and 111 online if you need advice and support for health conditions and only use 999 or go to A&E in life-threatening emergencies.”

Adam Brimelow, director of NHS Providers, also said: ‘These figures show that services are coming under relentless pressure and it looks like things will get worse before they get better.

‘This week’s cold is likely to add to the already huge demand on NHS services.

‘It feels like the worst Christmas and New Year the NHS has seen for many years, according to some trust leaders.

‘The winter flu blitz hit emergency and emergency departments early, and in many places ambulances had to queue outside hospitals waiting to bring patients in.’

According to the latest weekly NHS figures, there were an average of 4,469 flu patients in hospital in England each day last week.

For comparison, the figure was 1,312 in the same period last year.

However, it is slightly lower than this point two years ago, which recorded an average of 5,441.

Around 528 hospital beds in England were also filled every day last week by patients with diarrhea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms.

This is down from 723 in the previous week, but almost double the same points last year and (377) and in 2022 (338).

RSV – which is most common in infants and young children – increased by almost half over the same period in 2023.

More than 1,100 beds were also occupied by patients with Covid.

Some hospitals have begun limiting visiting hours and imposed mask mandates amid fears of rising ‘quad-demic’ cases.

Earlier this week, NHS trusts including Cambridge, Northern Lincolnshire, Essex and Bedfordshire introduced new restrictions to limit the risk of infection to patients, staff and the public.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and the Welsh Ambulance Service declared critical incidents due to the huge increase in demand for care.

More NHS trusts are expected to declare critical incidents in the coming days, health bodies have warned, with primary care already seeing demand rise significantly after the holiday period.

Yesterday, the health service warned people not to go outside early in the morning or late at night during the coming snow.

The joint advice, from the NHS and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), also urged people to check their medicine cabinets for essentials and to keep active by not sitting still for more than an hour and wearing several layers of thinner clothing.

A separate UKHSA Cold-Health Alert issued for all regions of England is expected to last until 8 January.

It warned that the weather was likely to cause “significant impacts across health and social services”, including an “increase in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions”.

Despite the increasing pressure, the latest official data shows that just under one in four frontline health workers in England have received the flu vaccine this year.

The government report found overall that only 24.3 percent of staff responsible for direct patient care have been vaccinated against influenza.

Analysis of the data showed that vaccination rates are lower across all staff groups, including NHS hospital staff, paramedics and GPs this year than in the 2023 season.

Public health specialists say people with even mild cold symptoms should consider self-isolation, as they may unknowingly carry the virus, which can be fatal to older people.

Along with avoiding family gatherings, they have recommended wearing masks and social distancing in an effort to avoid passing on the bug.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert from the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline: ‘If you are sick with flu, you should stay away from other people for the first three days and ideally for the first week.

“This is especially important if they are elderly or suffer from medical conditions that make them more vulnerable.”

Flu symptoms include fever, sore throat, muscle aches and cough, but Prof Hunter warned that many people are simply suffering from what looks like a common cold.

About a fifth of those infected with the flu have no symptoms but can still pass the bug on to others, he added.

Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist from the University of Warwick, also urged people with potential flu symptoms to consider lockdown-style measures.

“If you have flu-like symptoms, it’s really important to think about limiting your contact with other people, especially those who are clinically vulnerable to chest infections,” he said.

He added that this was important to consider even if vulnerable people had received a flu jab, as, like any vaccine, it cannot offer 100 per cent protection against serious illness.

Influenza, also called influenza, is responsible for around 40,000 hospitalizations and more than 10,000 deaths in the UK each year, although this can be higher in bad years.