About this release

This weekly release by Public Health Scotland presents epidemiological information on respiratory infection activity, including COVID-19, across Scotland. Due to the dynamic nature of all datasets included in this report, figures contained within each update may be subject to change in future releases. Any revised figures will then be reflected within the latest update.

Main Points

Overall assessment 28 October to 3 November (ISO week 44): 

• Calls to NHS24 for respiratory symptoms are lower than in previous years, while patient attendances to GP practices for influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infections are at levels that are typical for this time of year. 
• Influenza A test positivity remained low and stable in the community (CARI) surveillance system, with laboratory-confirmed cases still lower than previous weeks. Influenza related admissions to hospital decreased to 4334 this week, compared with 456 in the previous week.  
• RSV cases dropped slightly this week, remaining at a lower level compared with the same time last year. The largest proportion of RSV is seen in the 0-4 age group, continuing to highlight the importance of the RSV maternal vaccination programme. RSV related admissions to hospital have remained stable this week, with the highest emergency hospitalisation rate in the under 1 age group.   
• COVID-19 continues to decrease across all measures, including admissions to hospital, relative to the most recent peak in July. 
• COVID-19 in wastewater is now available with data to 31st October 2024 showing variability in the levels of COVID-19 RNA although spikes remain much lower than those seen in July 2024.  
• Since the start of the current winter 2024/25 vaccination programme, 639,484 Adult (18+) and 287,454 child (6 months to 17 years) influenza vaccines and 551,449 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Scotland. Among adults aged 75 years and older, 58.7% have been vaccinated against influenza and 56.5% have been vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Further information

The next release will be 14 November 2024.

Find out more

Previous Publications

Versions of the Weekly national respiratory report publication released before 30 November 2022 may be found on the Public Health Scotland website.

Versions of the COVID-19 weekly statistical report publication released before 30 November 2022 may be found on the Public Health Scotland website.

Open data

Open data from this publication is available from the following weblinks:

• Viral respiratory diseases Open Data platform
• Flu and COVID vaccination uptake Open Data platform

Further data

• The COVID-19 Vaccine Wastage datafile was updated on 18 April 2024 to include the most recent information.
• The COVID-19 in Adult Care Homes in Scotland datafile was updated on 27 July 2023 to include more recent information.
• 28 September 2022 COVID-19 statistical report publication contains information on COVID-19 infection and vaccination in pregnancy in Scotland.
• 2 March 2022 COVID-19 statistical report publication contains information on Highest Risk (shielding patients list)
• 7 November 2023 Community Acute Respiratory Infection (CARI) surveillance in primary care contains information on flu Vaccine effectiveness in community settings.
• 25 May 2023 Interim 2022/23 influenza vaccine effectiveness: six European studies, October 2022 to January 2023, contains information on flu Vaccine effectiveness in hospital settings.
• 13 January 2024 Estimated number of lives directly saved by COVID-19 vaccination programs in the WHO European Region, December 2020 to March 2023, contains information on lives saved due to COVID-19 vaccination