8,000 new flu cases in just 7 days

25% surge blamed on pupils missing out on vaccinations

‘Not too late to get a jab’

FLU cases have surged by a quarter in one week as hundreds of thousands of children remain unprotected.

Nearly 8,000 patients went to their GP with symptoms last week – almost twice as many as this time last year.

Less than 29 per cent of two and three-year- olds have been vaccinated so far. The figure is significantly lower than in 2018.

Young children are particularly vulnerable as they are at higher risk of complications and more likely to catch and spread the virus.

Flu is already taking its toll on the NHS and A&E units have been urging patients to stay away unless they have genuine medical emergencies. Today health officials will publish the first set of hospital winter performance figures and they are widely expected to be disastrous.

The crisis has been linked to the low uptake of the flu vaccine in young children following a supply problem with the manufacturer, which led to stocks being delivered late to GP surgeries.

Hundreds of thousands are yet to be immunised – and to make matters worse, the virus has arrived about a month earlier than usual. It also appears to be more aggressive.

Figures from Public Health England show that 13.1 per 100,000 patients went to their GP with flulike symptoms in the week to December 8, equivalent to 7,898 patients.

This was up from 10.6 per 100,000 the week before and is almost double the number compared with this time last year. A further 5.06 per 100,000 were admitted to hospital with flu, up from 4.01 per 100,000 the previous week.

This is ten times higher compared with the same week last winter and the virus is already causing havoc for some hospitals.

The figures are calculated using the number of patients registered by GP surgeries.

The data also shows that 124 patients were admitted on to intensive care units with flu, up from 80 the week before and just 37 this time last year.

The Royal College of GPs said its own figures suggested rates were higher than the five- year average and particularly severe among children.

Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the college, said: ‘Almost 8,000 patients went to their GP with influenza-like-illness last week, up 1,500 on the previous week.

‘The rise is particularly notable in patients aged five to 14, and in practices in the north of England.

‘It is not too late to get a flu jab. This is the best protection we have against the flu and we urge all patients in at-risk groups to get vaccinated – and for parents of young children to arrange this for their children – as soon as possible.’

Children aged two to 11 are offered the immunisation free on the NHS and it is administered as a nasal spray. Pregnant women, over-65s and adults with chronic conditions including asthma and diabetes are invited to have the jab each year.