Weekly national seasonal respiratory report - Week 29 2022 - Weekly national seasonal respiratory report - Publications - Public Health Scotland - ISS-G20 Laboratorium Repository

About this release

This release is a weekly report on epidemiological information on seasonal respiratory infection activity in Scotland. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care services are functioning differently now compared to previous flu seasons so the consultation rates are not directly comparable to historical data.

Main points

Overall assessment:

• The proportion of NHS24 calls for respiratory symptoms in week 29 was at Baseline activity level overall. The 1-4, 5-14, 15-44, 45-64, 65-74 and over 75 age groups remained at Baseline activity level. The under 1 age group decreased from Moderate to Low activity level. All NHS Boards were at Baseline activity level.
• In week 29, there were 17 influenza cases: 16 type A (subtype unknown) and one type B. This compares to 37 laboratory-confirmed cases reported during week 28. Influenza incidence remained at Baseline activity level.
• In week 29, adenovirus, coronavirus (non-SARS-CoV-2), HMPV, parainfluenza, rhinovirus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae were at Baseline activity level.
• RSV activity remained at Low activity level in week 29. The number of laboratory-confirmed RSV cases for week 29 was 97. This compares with 119 laboratory-confirmed cases in week 28. RSV activity is greater than what would be expected at this time of the year. 
  • Half of all NHS Boards were at Low activity level.
  • The 15-44, 45-64 and 75+ age groups remained at Baseline activity level. The 5-14 age group decreased from Low to Baseline activity level. The under 1, 1-4 and 65-74 age groups remained at Low activity level.
  • The majority (79%) of RSV detections in week 29 were in those aged under 5 years and the majority (89%) of diagnoses across all age groups occurred in the hospital setting.
• The hospitalisation rate for influenza was 0.1 per 100,000 in week 29, with the highest hospital admission rate for confirmed influenza noted in patients aged 75 years or older (0.4 per 100,000). The highest hospitalisation rate for influenza this season was reported in week 11 (1.3 per 100,000).

Entire content available on: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/weekly-national-seasonal-respiratory-report/weekly-national-seasonal-respiratory-report-week-29-2022/