Syndromic surveillance summary: 22 December 2022 week 50
Updated 5 January 2023
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Reporting week 50: 12 November to 18 December 2022
During week 50, there were continued increases observed across a range of respiratory indicators in all syndromic systems, including emergency department (ED) attendances for influenza-like illness, which are above seasonally expected levels.
GP consultation rates and ED attendances for scarlet fever remained elevated, but did not increase further during week 50.
‘Impact of cold’ indicators remained elevated during week 50, in line with the Cold weather alert: level 3 – cold weather action in place across England.
Ambulance dispatch call for ‘cardiac and respiratory arrest’ continue to increase during week 50.
Remote health advice syndromic surveillance system
During week 50, NHS 111 calls and online assessments continued to increase across a range of respiratory indicators including potential coronavirus (COVID-19), cold and flu, cough and difficulty breathing, mainly among those aged 15 years and over. Online assessments for diarrhoea and vomiting increased in adults aged 65 years and over.
Access the remote health advice syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK.
GP in hours syndromic surveillance system
During week 50, GP in hours consultation rates for upper respiratory tract infection (including influenza-like illness) and lower respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia) continued to increase nationally, due to further increases in adult age groups.
Previous increases in scarlet fever have now stabilised nationally, although rates remain elevated in children (aged 0 to 14 years) and young adults (aged 15 to 44 years).
Consultations rates for acute presenting asthma also increased and adults aged 15 years and over.
Access the GP in hours syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK.
GP out-of-hours syndromic surveillance system
Daily GP out-of-hours contact data from 4 August 2022 onwards has not been received due to a widely publicised disruption faced by one of the GP out-of-hours clinical software system providers. We have since been informed that this disruption was as a result of a cybersecurity incident caused by ransomware. We are working closely with our data provider to restore the daily syndromic feed.
Access the GP out-of-hours syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK.
Emergency department syndromic surveillance system
During week 50, there were further increases in attendances for influenza-like illness across all age groups. ED attendances for acute respiratory infections and asthma are elevated, but stable nationally, however both have increased in adult groups (aged 15 years and over). Attendances for scarlet fever decreased, but remain high. Acute bronchiolitis attendances continued to decrease.
During week 50, there were further increases in ‘impact of cold’ attendances nationally, particularly in the group aged 45 to 64 years, and the group aged 65 years and over.
Access the emergency department syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK.
Ambulance syndromic surveillance system
During week 50, ambulance dispatch calls for difficulty breathing and ‘cardiac or respiratory arrest’ continued to increase. Calls for ‘impact of heat or cold’ remained elevated, in line with the recent cold weather alert across England.
Access the ambulance syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK.