Patients urged to take up vaccinations as UK faces potentially severe flu season

People with long-term health conditions, and the carers who support them, are being urged to get their flu jab as soon as possible.

The warning from Hertfordshire and West Essex integrated care system comes after Australia recorded one of its toughest flu seasons in recent years, with cases soaring and hospitals under pressure.¹ Experts say this is a sign that the UK could also be facing a severe flu outbreak this winter.

The 2025 Australian influenza season peaked between June and July, much earlier than the historical average. Its early onset, rapid growth, and widespread community transmission make this year’s wave one of the most severe in recent history. Additionally, according to data from the Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report, influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2 are co-circulating at high levels, creating a “tripledemic” scenario, increasing hospitalisations and increasing pressures on healthcare systems. For public health authorities and professionals across Europe, tracking these trends in Australia’s flu season is way to predict and prepare for the upcoming autumn-winter respiratory season.²

Over 150,000 laboratory-confirmed influenza cases have been reported since the beginning of 2025, according to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Hospitalisations for severe acute respiratory infections reached 7,641 admissions by mid-July, including 3,081 due to influenza.²

Patients in the UK have been warned:

• Flu is not just ‘a bad cold’ – it can be fatal for people with heart disease, diabetes, COPD, asthma, kidney problems, or other long-term conditions.
• Even when a patient’s underlying health condition is well managed, flu can cause serious complications, which could lead to hospital admission. It can also cause the symptoms of the long-term condition to deteriorate, for example causing fluctuations in the blood glucose level for people with diabetes, or triggering more frequent, or severe exacerbations of respiratory conditions.
• If carers catch flu, both they and those they care for could be at risk.

Reviewing data from last winter’s UK flu vaccination programme found a clear link between flu vaccinations and people avoiding emergency hospital admissions. The data showed that people with heart disease, respiratory disease, liver disease or diabetes, were twice as likely to be hospitalised with a respiratory illness if they didn’t have the vaccine.

The findings for carers are even more stark – they were seven times more likely to be admitted to hospital with a flu-related illness if you don’t have the flu vaccination.

• See Bite-sized learning: Flu update

1. Herts and West Essex ICS. Get protected: flu poses serious risk this winter; October 2025. https://www.hertsandwestessex.ics.nhs.uk/news/get-protected-flu-poses-serious-risk-this-winter/
2. CoScience Hub. Australia’s 2025 Flu Season Peaks, Widespread and Severe – What This Means for Europe’s Next Winter. https://cosciencehub.copangroup.com/australias-2025-flu-season-peaks-widespread-and-severe-what-this-means-for-europes-next-winter/