Flu vaccination remains the best defence against winter absenteeism, with new data showing almost half of people with flu-like illness missed work or school.
Findings published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) from FluSurvey highlight the wider impact of flu-like illness beyond the NHS.
The analysis of more than 68,000 weekly symptom surveys across two full winter seasons — 2023-24 and 2024-25 — found:
• Among those in work or education, 47% reporting flu-like symptoms missed work or school
• Most said their illness disrupted daily life
• The majority treated symptoms at home and took medication, most commonly painkillers
• 14% sought help from their GP or other healthcare service
UKHSA said vaccinating school children early in the season is key — not only to protect them, but to stop spread to more vulnerable people like grandparents and younger siblings, and to reduce parents needing time off to care for sick children.
Dr Becki Green, Principal Scientist for Respiratory Viruses at UKHSA, said: These findings show the big impact that flu-like illnesses can have on people’s daily lives and while most rightly treat their symptoms at home, almost half missed work or school, needing time to recover. This is why getting your flu vaccine is so important, not just to protect against serious illness, but to reduce the wider disruption flu causes every year on workplaces, the economy and education.
Dr Amanda Doyle, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NHS England, said: Flu can have a significant impact on people’s daily lives and can mean time away from work, education and family life while you recover. It can also cause serious illness, particularly for those at higher risk, including pregnant women, young children and people with certain long-term health conditions.
More than 7 million children and adults have already had their flu vaccine, which remains the best protection against serious illness.
FluSurvey is the UK’s longest-running participatory surveillance system, relying on members of the public voluntarily reporting symptoms each week. It provides insight into community illness that would otherwise be missed by healthcare-based surveillance.
Commenting on this week’s respiratory viruses report, Dr Jamie Lopez-Bernal, Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: Our surveillance for the past week shows flu remains at low levels and the early rise we saw in previous weeks has slowed and COVID-19 also remains at low levels.
While currently these virus levels are low, we can’t easily predict what may happen over the coming weeks and vaccination remains our best defence.
UKHSA is urging those eligible to book their free NHS flu, COVID-19 or RSV vaccine, or ensure their child gets the nasal spray flu vaccine, before viruses circulate more widely.
It is also reminding people to reduce spread by staying home if they have flu-like symptoms, practising good hand hygiene, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding contact with vulnerable people or visiting hospitals and care homes if unwell.
Eligibility can be checked and appointments booked via the NHS App, NHS website, GP practice or participating pharmacies. Registration is now open to take part in this year’s FluSurvey.
