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

About this release

Public Health Scotland (PHS) continue to consider timely ways to provide the public with official statistics. Between April and October 2024, Public Health Scotland (PHS) will update the narrative report once a month. The next narrative report will be produced on 3 October 2024 with weekly full reporting being resumed 10 October. This approach aligns to the pre-pandemic one for respiratory pathogens, which typically follow a seasonal pattern. The interactive dashboard will continue to be updated weekly, and PHS will continue to monitor COVID-19 and other respiratory infection levels and reinstate the weekly narrative report before October 2024 if necessary.

Main points

Overall assessment for reporting period 5 August to 1 September 2024 (ISO weeks 32-35): 

• Respiratory symptoms in the community measured via calls to NHS24 and attendance at GP consultations for influenza-like-illness (GP ILI) remained at Baseline activity level across the four-week reporting period.
• In the CARI community surveillance system, slight increases in swab positivity was observed for a number of pathogens, including influenza virus A, SARS-CoV-2, seasonal coronavirus (non-SARS-CoV-2), Mycoplasma pneumoniae, parainfluenza virus and rhinovirus. All other pathogens remained low and relatively stable.
• Mycoplasma pneumoniae decreased from Moderate to Low activity level in week 33. Human metapneumovirus fluctuated between Baseline and Low activity levels in weeks’ 33 and 34. Rhinovirus increased from Baseline to Low activity level in week 35, while all other pathogens, including RSV and influenza were at Baseline activity level. Reported COVID-19 cases remained relatively stable throughout the latest four-week period following a peak in cases in July.
• In the most recent week, there were 219 emergency hospital admissions with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of influenza, RSV, or COVID-19. This was a decrease compared to previous weeks (197 in week 34, 201 in week 33, and 220 in week 32). The highest proportion among the admissions were due to COVID 19, although admissions because of COVID-19 have also decreased during the reporting period, from 197 in week 32, to 186 in week 35.
• All-cause excess mortality for week 32 (week ending 11 August 2024, the latest week not impacted by reporting delays) remained at Baseline activity level overall and for all age groups.

Background

Tracking infectious respiratory diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza, is essential, especially in the winter when the disease burden can be highest. In Scotland, respiratory infection and associated morbidity are monitored using enhanced surveillance. This approach combines data from microbiological sampling and laboratory test results from community and hospital settings with data from syndromic surveillance of NHS 24 calls, primary care consultations for respiratory symptoms, hospital (including intensive care) admissions and other settings.

The intelligence generated from surveillance of laboratory, syndromic and community settings provide a comprehensive picture of current respiratory illness in Scotland. The data presented in this report provide a comprehensive and timely epidemiological picture that is essential for understanding transmission of infection and supporting patient care and NHS service planning and policy.

Seasonality patterns / seasonal variations

Respiratory illnesses are associated with seasonal increase in the autumn and winter. Seasonality patterns for both influenza viruses and non-influenza respiratory pathogens have been established through many years of surveillance data. Most influenza and non-influenza pathogens circulate in the autumn and winter in Scotland, although some are known to circulate in the spring and summer. Notably, COVID-19 transmission has been occurring in waves throughout the year as observed from surveillance data since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Further information

The next release of the interactive dashboard, COVID-19 data platform and respiratory open data platform will be 12 September 2024.

The next release of the narrative publication will be 3 October 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