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 have been 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 26 October to 1 November 2026 (ISO week 44):

• Syndromic indicators for respiratory infections have remained stable over the last four weeks, with continued baseline activity, reflecting the trend seen in previous seasons for this time of year.
• Influenza activity has continued to rise across systems in week 44, but laboratory confirmed cases remain low overall and across most age groups. Activity remains at baseline among children aged under 1 year. In CARI surveillance, influenza A test positivity increased significantly over the most recent four-week period, with notable increases in the latest week among children aged 0–4 years (35.5%, from 3.4%) and 5–14 years (40.0%, from 12.5%). Influenza hospital admissions increased by 16% from 178 in week 43 to 207 in week 44 and were higher than at the same point in the previous five seasons.
• COVID-19 laboratory confirmed cases continue to increase while remaining at medium levels activity levels overall and among those aged 45 years and over. There has been a slight increase in the number of COVID-19 hospital admissions.
• RSV has continued to remain stable and at baseline.
• Since the start of the winter 2026/27 vaccination programme, 704,455 adults (18+) and 268,781 children aged 6 months to 17 years have received an influenza vaccine. 205,389 COVID-19 vaccines have also been administered. Vaccinations scheduled but not yet delivered are not included.

Further information

The next report will be published on 12 November 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