Yes, there’s more flu going around — but no, it’s not more dangerous than usual

Doctors urge people to get the jab as hospitals face pressure from rising admissions

- James Tapper

There is no need to panic just yet. Even though it has been called the “super flu”, the new strain of the virus is no more dangerous, nor is it harder to treat than previous versions.

Doctors and scientists have urged people to get vaccinated after flu season began earlier than usual this year. An average of 2,660 patients were in hospital with flu each day in England last week, the earliest that these levels have been reached.

This rapid start was driven by seven mutations to the H3N2 strain of influenza, which developed at the end of the southern hemisphere’s flu season.

That means people’s natural immunity to the virus has been lower than normal, according to Edward Hutchinson, professor of molecular and cellular virology at Glasgow University.