'Red zone' map reveals rapid spread of illness across London and UK amid rising cases of Australian flu

Ella Wills8 January 2018

A map showing Londoners whether they live in hotspots for Australian flu has revealed possible cases across swathes of the country.

Online tool Flusurvey, which updates every three minutes, monitors flu trends by asking members of the public to register and report their symptoms.

The map shows the spread of all types of "influenza like illness" reported around the UK, including the potentially fatal Australian strain, using a gradient system of no reports to "very high" numbers.

Red zones reveal where cases have clustered whereas cool blue zones show areas that are not affected.

And the number of reported cases has spiked in the space of 24 hours as the NHS braces itself for winter outbreaks.

Sunday: Red 'hotspots' have cropped up all over the country
Flusurvey.org

There are now less than five areas of the UK with zero reported cases of influenza.

Londoners in the City of London and Ilford are among those parts to have escaped the virus.

While Romford and Kingston Upon Thames, previously untouched, are marked red.

Leeds, Southampton, Plymouth and Bath are all among huge regions of the UK to have reported cases.

Saturday: The map was mostly showing blue, meaning no reported cases
Flusurvey.org

Australian flu - also known as H3N2 - killed hundreds of people in Australia earlier this year, during their winter.

A number deaths in Ireland have already been attributed to the strain, and Public Health England has said there were a growing number of reported cases in the past two weeks.

Cases have been reported all over the country in the last 48 hours
Flusurvey.org

Adding to the winter pressures facing Britain's hospitals, including outbreaks of norovirus, it arrived as as NHS England urged hospitals to defer pre-planned operations and routine outpatient appointments until the end of the month.

Dr Richard Pebody, acting head of respiratory diseases at Public Health England, said: "In Australia they saw excess mortality and other hospitalisations and so on due to H3N2."

He said the flu vaccine is currently the best preventative. While the effectiveness data for this year's flu is not yet available, Dr Pebody said hopes are that the vaccine will provide "reasonable protection" against Australian flu.

There are currently more than 7,500 respondents from all over the UK contributing, and the LSHTM is encouraging more people to get involved as it makes the data more useful.

While it takes 10 to 14 days for the vaccine to take effect, the NHS's free flu vaccine programme can be accessed by anyone who is pregnant or over the age of 65.

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