National records show spike in deaths amid flu outbreak

The winter flu outbreak led to a spike in deaths across Tayside and Fife.

More than four times as many people died as a result of the virus in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2017.

Figures from National Records Scotland showed flu deaths in Fife went up from eight to 37, while across Tayside it claimed the lives of 39 people, compared to 14 in the first quarter of 2017.

There was also an increase in deaths from pneumonia, with the figure for Fife rising from 31 to 46. In Tayside, the figure climbed from 37 to 54. Scotland-wide, 331 flu deaths were registered in the first three months of the year.

The figure is a 360% rise on the 72 recorded from January to March 2017.

The total number of deaths registered in the first quarter of 2018 was 17,771 – 2,060 (13.1%) higher than the first three months of last year, and the highest first quarter total since 1986.

As well as the large rise in influenza deaths, there was a 35.8% increase in deaths from respiratory disease to 2,855, while deaths from coronary heart disease rose by 5.4% to 1,916.

There was a 15% rise in dementia deaths to 1,416, and a 22.5% increase in deaths from Alzheimer’s, to 795.

The number of babies being born dropped to 12,713 – the lowest first quarter total since 2003.

Anne Slater, acting registrar general for Scotland, said: “Over the longer term, deaths from coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease have decreased considerably while the number of deaths from cancer and respiratory disease has risen slightly.

“There has been a relatively large increase in the number of deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, with such deaths now accounting for more than 10% of all deaths compared to 5% a decade ago.”