Influenza: Statistics
(asked on 19th October 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how UKHSA distinguishes between detection of influenza viral RNA by PCR and evidence of active infection and clinically attributable influenza illness in published influenza surveillance statistics.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) produces information on excess winter deaths due to flu and COVID-19 and extreme cold, which can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/influenza-in-the-uk-annual-epidemiological-reports
A more specific cold weather report focussing on cold mortality for 2024/25 is also available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-publishes-first-cold-mortality-report
Until May 2026, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities assessed excess mortality weekly and then monthly by cause of death. Details can be found at the following two links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/excess-mortality-in-england-and-english-regions
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/excess-mortality-in-england--2
The UKHSA currently publishes weekly official statistics in the National Influenza and COVID-19 Report, which summarises information from the surveillance systems that are used to monitor seasonal influenza, COVID-19, and other seasonal respiratory illnesses, and can be accessed at the link below:
The UKHSA has also published academic papers that give details of our approach to COVID-19 and flu modelling, and these can be found at the following link:
https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014644