Syndromic surveillance summary: 7 September 2023 week 35
Updated 4 January 2024
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Reporting week 35: 28 August to 3 September 2023
During week 35, there was a sharp increase in emergency department (ED) COVID-19-like attendances across most age groups and regions. There was also an increase in ‘impact of heat’ and ‘insect bites’ syndromic indicators, particularly during the weekend of 2 and 3 September, in line with recent warm weather.
Remote health advice syndromic surveillance system
NHS 111 calls and online assessments for ‘heat exposure or sunburn’ decreased throughout week 35, however there was an increase in activity over the weekend of 2 and 3 September. Calls and assessments for insect bites also increased over the weekend and are currently above seasonally expected levels. NHS 111 cold/flu calls increased during week 35 but are in line with seasonally expected levels.
Access the remote health advice syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
GP in-hours syndromic surveillance system
During week 35, the GP in-hours consultation rate for ‘acute presenting asthma’ increased in line with expected levels. Overall, the trends for upper and lower respiratory tract infections remained stable during week 35, following seasonally expected baselines.
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 was not received from 4 August 2022 until 31 March 2023 due to technical problems. We have been working closely with our data provider and the daily syndromic feed recommenced on 1 April 2023. We are currently evaluating the daily data received and will resume publication of the weekly bulletin when this process is complete.
Access the GP out-of-hours syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
Emergency department syndromic surveillance system
During week 35, ED COVID-19-like attendances increased sharply, across most age groups and regions. ED attendances for other respiratory indicators remained stable and at seasonally expected levels. Over the weekend of 2 and 3 September there was an increase in ED attendances for ‘heat or sunstroke’, in line with the recent warm weather.
Access the emergency department syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
Ambulance syndromic surveillance system
There was an increase in daily ambulance calls for ‘impact of heat’, ‘unconscious or passing out’ and ‘injuries’ indicators over the weekend of 2 and 3 September coinciding with a period of warmer weather during week 35.
Access the ambulance syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK