Viral respiratory diseases in Scotland surveillance report

About this release

This weekly release by Public Health Scotland presents epidemiological information on respiratory infection activity, including COVID-19, across Scotland. Due to the dynamic nature of all datasets included in this report, figures contained within each update may be subject to change in future releases. Any revised figures will then be reflected within the latest update.

Please note there will be several changes introduced for the 2026/27 season, such as an upgrade of NHS 24 symptom definitions, refinement of the lab-confirmed hospital admissions identification process, and expansion of the number of sites included in syndromic SARI. Some other changes may still require further adjustment and hence these outputs should be considered as Official Statistics in Development. For full details of these changes please see details available in the technical information section of our website.

Main points

For the period 12 October to 18 October 2026 (ISO week 42):

• Syndromic indicators of respiratory infections remain at baseline activity, typical for this time in the season.
• Influenza has remained generally stable and at baseline activity across systems in week 42. Due to a small pre-seasonal increase, absolute numbers remain slightly above usual for this time in the year. Activity levels and admissions are highest in adults aged 65 or over.
• COVID-19 activity has been stable through laboratory surveillance, remaining at low activity for the fifth consecutive week. Activity was highest in adults aged between 45-74. However, increases were observed in both CARI primary care test positivity and in hospital admission data.
• During the first few weeks of the season, RSV trends have mirrored the previous year. Despite remaining at baseline activity, there has been a small increase in laboratory confirmed incidence rates, test positivity, and hospital admissions in week 42. These increases are mostly in children aged under five, typical of RSV seasonality.
• Winter 2026/27 vaccine uptake is included in this report for the first time this season. Since the start of the programme, 482,026 adults (18+) and 196,051 children aged 6 months to 17 years have received an influenza vaccine, and 89,746 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

Further information

The next report will be published on 29 October 2026.

Find out more

Previous Publications

Versions of the Weekly national respiratory report publication released before 30 November 2022 may be found on the Public Health Scotland website.

Versions of the COVID-19 weekly statistical report publication released before 30 November 2022 may be found on the Public Health Scotland website.

Open data

Open data from this publication is available from the following weblinks:

• Viral respiratory diseases Open Data platform
• Flu and COVID vaccination uptake Open Data platform

Further data

• The COVID-19 Vaccine Wastage datafile was updated on 18 April 2024 to include the most recent information.
• The COVID-19 in Adult Care Homes in Scotland datafile was updated on 27 July 2023 to include more recent information.
• 28 September 2022 COVID-19 statistical report publication contains information on COVID-19 infection and vaccination in pregnancy in Scotland.
• 2 March 2022 COVID-19 statistical report publication contains information on Highest Risk (shielding patients list)
• 7 November 2023 Community Acute Respiratory Infection (CARI) surveillance in primary care contains information on flu Vaccine effectiveness in community settings.
• 25 May 2023 Interim 2022/23 influenza vaccine effectiveness: six European studies, October 2022 to January 2023, contains information on flu Vaccine effectiveness in hospital settings.
• 13 January 2024 Estimated number of lives directly saved by COVID-19 vaccination programs in the WHO European Region, December 2020 to March 2023, contains information on lives saved due to COVID-19 vaccination