View 3 Images

The NHS is facing a 'worse case scenario' situation for December as new figures show hospitalisations from 'super flu' have surged by more than half in just one week.

Health chiefs say an average of 2,660 patients per day were in a hospital bed with flu last week - up 55 per cent from last week. This is the highest ever for this time of year, with enough flu patients each day to fill more than three whole hospitals.

With data lagging slightly behind actual figures, the NHS warns the total number of hospitalisations has already increased sharply since then, with no peak in sight. It comes after officials warned that a new 'superflu' variant, known as A(H3N2) - or subclade K - has rapidly become the dominant influenza strain across the country.

Professor Meghana Pandit,

See Full Page