Latest figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) indicate that flu activity across the UK is now declining. Nevertheless flu is still circulating in the community and influenza A H1N1 (2009) 'swine' flu and influenza B remain the predominant strains. A small proportion of flu continues to result in severe disease, particularly in people under the age of 65.

In the week to 20th January 2011, the number of number of GP consultations in England had fallen to 66.5 per 100,000, down from 108.4 per 100,000 the previous week. Vaccine uptake among under 65s in a clinical ‘at risk’ group had reached 48%. Uptake among the over 65s – who are routinely offered the vaccine – was 71.7%.

The total number of people who are reported to have died from flu in the UK since the season began in October had reached 254 by 20 January 2011. Of the 254 confirmed deaths to date, information is available on 214 patients. Of these 195 had the H1N1 (2009) strain, three had untyped influenza A and 16 had influenza B. The majority of these deaths are reported to have occurred within the 15-64 age group.

"Our latest flu report suggests levels of flu are declining across the UK but nonetheless flu is still circulating in the community and the message remains that people in an at-risk group should get the seasonal flu vaccine – it’s not too late to protect yourself from flu this season,” explained Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the HPA.

“Flu is an unpleasant but self-limiting illness for most people but we can’t stress enough how it can be an extremely serious illness for people in ‘at risk’ groups, including pregnant women, the elderly and those with other underlying conditions such as heart problems, diabetes, lung, liver or renal diseases and those who have weakened immune systems.

“Ongoing HPA surveillance continues to indicate a modest increase in cases of some invasive bacterial infections such as pneumococcal and meningococcal disease and invasive Group A streptococcal Infection (iGAS) which may follow on from or be associated with influenza. Although we expect to see more cases of these bacterial infections during the winter months the HPA is monitoring the situation closely and currently investigating whether co-infection with flu is contributing to these increases,” Professor Watson concluded.

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