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, 15 December 2025 to 4 January (ISO weeks 51-1): 

• GP consultations for influenza like illness (ILI) and acute respiratory infections (ARI) decreased overall. Caution should be taken when interpreting data from weeks 52 and 1, as many NHS services, including GP practices, operate reduced hours or close over public holidays.
• Despite influenza levels peaking earlier than expected this season, high activity has not been sustained, with decreases seen across all systems. Since PHS’ last report, laboratory-confirmed cases decreased by 70.7%, from 1,994 in week 50 to 585 in week 1, returning to low activity overall. There were 284 hospital admissions due to influenza in week 1, down from 958 in week 50. Influenza A(H3N2) continues to dominate.
• All-cause excess mortality reached medium activity in week 50, the last week not impacted by reporting delays.
• RSV laboratory confirmed case rates have declined overall since week 50, though test positivity continued to increase, from 8.9% in week 50 to 10.8% in week 52 and week 1. Through both measures, RSV activity has since decreased in children aged under 5 but continues to rise in adults aged 45 plus. Hospital admissions due to RSV decreased to 242, driven by decreases in those aged under 5, who accounted for 221 (75%) admissions in week 50 and 151 (68%) in week 1. This is typical of RSV seasonality, with peaks observed first in infants before older adults.
• COVID-19 measures remained stable and within baseline overall, with only laboratory-confirmed cases in the 1-4 age group reporting at low activity.  
• Human metapneumovirus and seasonal coronavirus levels have generally increased over the season to present, although both are still reporting at low activity via laboratory surveillance in week 1. Both also show a statistically significant 4-weekly increase via CARI GP surveillance.

Further information

The next narrative report will be 15 January 2026.

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