The NHS remains on high alert over flu, health bosses say, but there are clear signs the surge in the virus has come to an end for now at least. Community spread appears to have stabilised, the UK Health Security Agency says. Meanwhile, the rise in hospital cases has slowed. And with just over 3,000 patients in hospital in England with the virus, the dire prediction by NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackay of "between 5,000 and 8,000" cases has not materialised.
Flu strikes every winter, but this year something seems to be different. A seasonal flu virus suddenly mutated in the summer. It appears to evade some of our immunity, has kick-started a flu season more than a month early, and is a type of flu that history suggests is more severe. The NHS has now issued a "flu jab SOS" as fears grow that this will add up to a brutal winter. There is a lot of nuance and uncertainty, but leading flu experts have told me they would not be shocked if this was the worst flu season for a decade.