Many babies are in hospital with flu in Scotland because pandemic lockdowns mean they did not inherit immunity from their mothers, experts have said.
Social restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 introduced in 2020 also suppressed influenza.
Women pass on antibodies to their babies, who carry them for the first year of life. But expectant mothers have had little exposure to flu since the onset of the pandemic.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) has reported “extraordinary” levels of flu circulating in the country, including 74 patients being treated in intensive care and high dependency units.
The figures were revealed yesterday as Nicola Sturgeon led a meeting of the Scottish government resilience committee to discuss health and social care.
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PHS said the highest number of hospital admissions for flu was among infants of under one. Dr Jim McMenamin, head of health protection for PHS, said it was “unusual” for hospital admissions with flu in Scotland to be highest among the very young.
But he noted that the high uptake of vaccination and people’s increased tendency to stay at home when they have viral symptoms may be reducing the spread among older people.
Under-twos cannot receive the flu vaccine and McMenamin said babies were succumbing to the illness because “they themselves have not been exposed before but also, just as importantly, their mums have not been exposed”.
The latest PHS respiratory report shows “extraordinary” levels of flu across all mainland health boards except NHS Borders, which is classified as high, and NHS Dumfries & Galloway, which is deemed moderate.
Rates on the islands are also ranked as moderate. Although the number of laboratory tests confirming flu diagnoses dipped during the last week of 2022, compared with those of the penultimate week of the year, McMenamin said that delays processing samples may have affected this finding. Factors including postal strikes could result in a surge of flu test results being returned next week. The rates are the highest since the last “significant season” of 2017-18, and hospital admissions with the illness at the end of last year were the highest since 2016.
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McMenamin, a consultant epidemiologist, said the surge had been expected, based on information from the southern hemisphere. “This is something we had to plan for,” he said.
He welcomed the Scottish government’s flu vaccination programme and echoed Jason Leitch, its clinical director, by urging people with viral symptoms to wear masks if they go out.
The number of people in critical care with flu is higher than those seriously ill with Covid-19, but Covid cases are also climbing. In the week to New Year’s Day there was on average 1,267 patients in hospital with Covid, up 15 per cent from the previous week. Doctors have described patients waiting 40 hours for beds in overcrowded A&E departments and ambulances queuing outside unable to hand over patients because there is no space or staff available.
Opposition politicians, backed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, have called on Sturgeon to reconvene the Scottish parliament early to discuss the crisis.
In her first intervention since the winter recess began, the first minister said: “I am clear that the Scottish government must and will do everything it can to support our health and care service throughout the next few weeks.
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“We remain in daily contact with health boards and there is already a huge amount of work being done, but we will leave no stone unturned to explore and implement any additional measures that could be taken to help alleviate pressures. With that in mind we will continue to work with all partners to implement actions that can help ensure the workforce is supported to deliver the high standards of care that we want everyone to receive.”
