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 18 November to 24 November (ISO week 47): 

• Calls to NHS24 for respiratory symptoms, while lower than in previous years, remain elevated in the <5 age group. Attendances to GP practices for influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infections remained stable in the most recent week, and at levels typical for this time in the season.
• RSV laboratory-confirmed cases increased to extraordinary levels in week 47, with the highest levels of activity in the 1–4-year age group. RSV related admissions to hospital also have increased again this week, with the highest rate in the under 1 age group, highlighting the ongoing importance of the RSV maternal vaccination programme. The highest proportion of hospital admissions were from RSV (62%) compared to influenza (20%) or COVID-19 (18%)
• Influenza A laboratory-confirmed cases increased by 43% compared to the previous week. Positivity increased slightly in the community (CARI) surveillance system. Influenza related hospital admissions also increased to 85, up from 50 in the previous week.
• COVID-19 continues to decrease across all systems, including admissions to hospital, since July. Wastewater data available to 22 November show a general downward trend of COVID-19 RNA levels.
• Since the start of the winter 2024/25 vaccination programme in Scotland, uptake was highest in older care home residents (influenza: 81.0%; COVID-19: 79.1%), and among adults aged 75 years and older (influenza: 71.6%; and COVID-19: 68.7%). There is lower uptake when compared to the corresponding week in last year’s programme in those aged 65 to 74 years, those in influenza and COVID-19 at-risk groups, healthcare workers, and social care workers.
• The RSV vaccination programme for older adults and pregnant women in Scotland is a new programme which began in August 2024. From 1 August to 24 November 2024, there were 201,891 doses of RSV vaccine administered to older adults with uptake of 68.6%, and 6,023 doses of RSV vaccine administered to pregnant women who turned 28 weeks pregnant from the 1 August 2024, with uptake of 45.3%.

Further information

The next release will be 5 December 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