UKHSA has published insights from FluSurvey, which
highlight the wider impact of flu-like illness on people's daily
lives.
- among those in work or education, 47% reporting flu-like
symptoms missed work or school in previous winter seasons
- most reported that their illness disrupted their daily life
with the majority treating their symptoms at home while 14%
sought help from their GP or a healthcare service
The findings show that most participants reported that their
illness disrupted their daily life with the majority treating
their symptoms at home, while 14% sought help from their GP or a
healthcare service.
Among those in work or in education, 47% reported missing work or
school due to their symptoms and the majority reported taking
medication, most commonly painkillers, to manage their
illness.
Ensuring school children are vaccinated as early in the season as
possible is key, not only to protect them, but to help stop the
spread into the wider community and those at greater risk of more
severe illness, like grandparents and younger siblings. Giving
children protection through vaccination also means that parents
are less likely to have to take time off work to care for sick
children.
Dr Becki Green, Principal Scientist for Respiratory Viruses at
UKHSA, said:
These findings show the big impact that flu-like illnesses can
have on people's daily lives and while most rightly treat their
symptoms at home, almost half missed work or school, needing time
to recover. This is why getting your flu vaccine is so important,
not just to protect against serious illness, but to reduce the
wider disruption flu causes every year on workplaces, the economy
and education.
Dr Amanda Doyle, National Director for Primary Care and Community
Services at NHS England, said:
Flu can have a significant impact on people's daily lives and, as
these findings show, can mean time away from work, education and
family life while you recover. It can also cause serious illness,
particularly for those at higher risk, including pregnant women,
young children and people with certain long-term health
conditions.
More than 7 million children and adults have already had their
flu vaccine, which remains the best protection against serious
illness and can help reduce the disruption that flu causes for
individuals, families and communities each winter.
So, if you're eligible for a free NHS flu vaccination, including
if you're pregnant or have a young child who is offered the
vaccine, please do come forward as soon as possible to help
protect yourself and those around you.
FluSurvey, the UK's
longest-running participatory surveillance system, relies on
members of the public voluntarily reporting their symptoms each
week, providing valuable insight into illness circulating in the
community that would otherwise go unseen by healthcare-based
surveillance systems.
The findings are drawn from 2 full winter seasons (2023-24
and 2024-25), during which more than 68,000 weekly symptom
surveys were completed.
Commenting on this week's surveillance of
respiratory viruses data report, Dr Jamie Lopez-Bernal,
Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA, said:
Our surveillance for the past week shows flu remains at low
levels and the early rise we saw in previous weeks has slowed and
COVID-19 also remains at low levels, but we'll be closely
tracking all the major respiratory viruses right through the
winter, so we can spot trends early and keep the public
informed.
While currently these virus levels are low, we can't easily
predict what may happen over the coming weeks
and vaccination remains our best defence. If eligible
book your free NHS flu, COVID-19 or RSV vaccine or
ensure your child receives their easy and painless nose spray flu
vaccine as soon as possible, before viruses start circulating
more widely this winter.
It's also important to remember the simple steps we can all take
to reduce the spread of winter viruses, including staying at home
if you have flu-like symptoms, good hand hygiene and
covering coughs and sneezes. Importantly you should also
avoid contact with anyone who is particularly vulnerable and
not visit those at greater risk in hospitals and care
homes.
If unsure you can check if you're eligible and book an
appointment through the NHS App or website, by contacting your GP
practice or by walking into a participating pharmacy. More
information is available on the UKHSA blog: Your guide
to who's eligible for the autumn 2026 flu vaccine
Registration is now open to sign up to participate in
this year's FluSurvey and contribute directly to helping protect
the nation's health from flu and other respiratory viruses this
winter through one short survey each week.
