The most recent data, external from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which monitors the spread of winter viruses, found there were 107 acute respiratory incidents in educational settings in England between 24 and 30 November.
An “acute respiratory incident” is defined, external for a school as two or more cases occurring among pupils within a five-day period. It could apply to a range of respiratory illnesses like influenza, RSV, covid or the common cold.
Of the 107 incidents reported in education settings for the last week of November, 17 identified influenza as the virus involved, with two more schools reporting Covid as the cause. In 76 cases the school didn’t know which respiratory infection was affecting them.
In comparison, during the same week last year, external there were only 15 respiratory incidents in educational settings overall, with only one due to influenza.
Flu is on the rise in the UK, according to the UKHSA – with a weekly average positivity rate of 17.1% among reported test results as of 2 December, up from 11.6% the week before.
A new strain of the virus, the H3N2 “subclade K” variant, is circulating. It is a mutated strain of the seasonal influenza A virus and people have not encountered much of it in recent years. That means there is less built-up immunity against it.