Viral respiratory diseases (including influenza and COVID-19) in Scotland surveillance report

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 17 February 2025 to 23 February 2025 (ISO week 8): 

• Syndromic indicators for respiratory infections remained at baseline, with activity comparable to the same week in previous seasons.
• Laboratory-confirmed influenza case numbers show a slight increase this week, driven by increases in influenza B which now account for 50% of total influenza cases. Meanwhile, influenza A continues to steadily decline since an end-2024 peak. In the community (CARI surveillance), test positivity decreased for both influenza A (from 8.1% to 7.5%) and influenza B (from 16.1% to 13.4%). Overall influenza-related hospital admissions in Scotland increased by 20% (from 155 to 186), driven by a steeper increase in influenza B admissions (by 41%) than influenza A (by 7%).
• RSV continues to decline across all surveillance systems in week 8, returning to baseline activity levels overall. Emergency hospitalisations also decreased, at 52 compared with 65 in the previous week.
• COVID-19 signals remain low across all surveillance systems, though showing signs of small increases in laboratory case data in week 8. However, no such signal has been detected through CARI surveillance, wastewater, or hospitalisations, which remain stable
• All-cause excess mortality for week 5 (the latest week not impacted by reporting delays) remained at baseline overall and across age groups.
• Since the start of the winter 2024/25 vaccination programme in Scotland, uptake was highest in older care home residents and among adults aged 75 years and older. Vaccine uptake is lower for both adults (18+) influenza and COVID-19 for all eligible groups when compared to the corresponding calendar week last year. Overall, for both adults (18+) influenza and COVID-19 vaccines, uptake is highest in the White ethnic group and in the least deprived areas.

Further information

The next release will be 6 March 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