Viral respiratory diseases in Scotland surveillance report

About this release

As part of Public Health Scotland’s commitment to providing clear, concise and accessible viral respiratory data, there have been some improvements to the presentation this season’s viral respiratory report. These have included updates to the accessibility of figures presented in the report and a change in the title of the report from Viral respiratory diseases (including influenza and COVID-19) in Scotland surveillance report to Viral respiratory diseases in Scotland surveillance report.

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

For the period, 6 October 2025 to 12 October 2025 (ISO week 41):

• Calls to NHS 24 for respiratory symptoms and patient attendance at GP practices for influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infection are at baseline, as expected for this time of year.
• Influenza activity in Scotland remains at baseline although signals continue to suggest a potentially early start to the season with laboratory-confirmed cases (routine community and hospital settings) rising to 144 in week 41 (from 81 in week 39 and 141 in week 40). In the CARI surveillance system, there was a significant increase in 4-weekly test positivity at 5.5% (weeks 38-41) from 2.0% (weeks 34-37). Hospital admissions increased to 74 in week 41 (from 61 in week 40).
• Laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 decreased to 359 in week 41 from 473 in week 40, with overall activity decreasing to baseline. In the CARI community surveillance system, the 4-weekly test positivity also showed a significant decrease at 10.7% (weeks 38-41) from 15.9% (weeks 34-37). Hospital admissions decreased to 147 in week 41 (from 192 in week 40).
• RSV and other indicators of respiratory infections remained at baseline or stable across all surveillance systems.

Further information

The next release will be on 23 October 2025.

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