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Extra-mutated 'superflu' sweeps Britain: NHS declares early flu crisis and warns of 'worst winter ever' as experts suggest wearing masks
The NHS faces a 'historic crisis' this winter amid looming strikes and record numbers of people in hospital with flu - with experts now urging Britons to wear face masks.
A troublesome mutant strain of the flu hitting the UK is believed to be more infectious and leading to more severe illness and hospital admissions than last year - while also leaving people vulnerable to other catching other seasonal viruses at the same time.
A 'drifted' influenza A(H3N2) strain, also now known as 'subclade K' or 'super flu', is dominating cases and health leaders have warned the flu season started 'unusually early' this year - while virology experts are leading growing calls for mask wearing.
Officials believe surging flu rates are being largely driven by a spike among children at school aged five to 14, with H3N2 accounting for the vast majority of cases. There are now ten times as many patients in hospital compared with the same time in 2023.
Concerns are mounting at the NHS amid a record number of people in hospital with flu in England for the time of year and fears of an 'unprecedent wave' of infections.
NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has warned the country could face its worst flu season on record, after Australia suffered the same earlier this year - and believes the NHS faces pressures that 'in a lot of ways will be like the Covid period'.
Professor Nicola Lewis, World Influenza Centre director at the Francis Crick Institute, said: 'We haven't seen a virus like this for a while, these dynamics are unusual. H3 is always a hotter virus, it's a nastier virus, it's more impactful on the population.'
Amid the so-called 'flunami', the UK Health Security Agency said masks 'continue to be a useful tool in limiting the spread respiratory viruses in some situations'.
Officials reissued guidance saying anyone feeling ill should wear a mask because it can reduce the number of particles with viruses released from the mouth and nose.
They also said masks can protect the person wearing them from becoming infected with other respiratory viruses such as Covid-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Mandatory mask rules have been imposed over recent weeks in parts of hospitals in London, Lincolnshire, Shropshire and Oxfordshire amid alarm at infection numbers.
