Why is Britain so sick right now? | UK News

Are you ill? If not, you probably know someone who is – or at the very least someone who has just recovered.

Coughs and colds, it seems, are rampant at the moment.

And, if the anecdotes of people I know are anything to go by, the bug going round seems to be a particularly nasty one.

Sore throat? Tick. Streaming nose? Tick. Sinus pressure? Double tick.

What’s going on?

“This is normal, it’s autumn after all,” says Prof Jonathan Ball, from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

He says a combination of children returning to school, adults back at work after the summer break and people spending more time indoors as the weather turns cooler creates a ripe breeding ground for respiratory viruses to flourish.

“Basically we have a big mixing pot of different viruses that are beginning to do the rounds. Immunity has waned and people are getting ill.”

There are actually more than 100 different viruses that cause upper and lower respiratory tract infections, plus some bacterial infections.

Data collection from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows Rhinovirus – what many of us would call the common cold – has been on the increase in recent weeks and seems to be the most common cause of illness at the moment.

Covid is also doing the rounds, driven by two new variants – XFG, called Stratus by some, and NB.1.8.1, known as Nimbus. But there is already a high degree of immunity built up in the population meaning, for most, it’s a fairly mild infection.

There are signs flu may be on the rise too – there has been an increase in the 15-25 age group over the past week – while RSV, which can cause serious illness in young children, also tends to take off in the autumn.

“There is often, although not always, a pattern,” says Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, a consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA.

“You tend to see Rhinovirus take off first and then RSV,” he explains. “Flu tends to come later in December and January. But that’s not always the case – and certainly the pandemic disrupted the traditional seasonal trends. What we’ve seen in the last year or so is those trends return to something like normal.”

He says the levels of illnesses at the moment are not particularly high.

“Covid is above baseline and there’s a lot of Rhinovirus around. The uptick in flu in that younger age group has perhaps come a little bit earlier than we would expect, but it is still at a low level.”

The most common symptoms, according to the NHS, are:

Colds

• Symptoms appear gradually
• Mostly affect nose and throat
• Early sign – pressure in your ears
• Chestier, mucus cough

Flu

• Comes on suddenly
• Feel wiped out
• Fever, muscle aches, exhaustion
• Need bed rest
• Dry cough

Covid

• Typical flu symptoms
• Loss of taste of smell
• Diarrhoea or tummy upset

Many of the symptoms between cold, flu and more serious viruses like Covid overlap.

Respiratory infections can, of course, be really dangerous for vulnerable people – in a bad winter tens of thousands of people can die of flu.

But there is nothing to suggest the respiratory viruses circulating now are causing more serious illness this year in otherwise healthy people.

“We all react in different ways – and we don’t really understand why,” admits Prof Ball.

“Of course, age and fitness have a lot to do with it, but sometimes it is just your individual genetics or how tired and rundown you may be, or when you were last exposed to that particular virus.”

In terms of protecting yourself, the most important step to take, if you are eligible, is to get vaccinatinated. Shots are being offered for flu, Covid and RSV to protect those who are most at-risk of serious illness, which includes older people and those with certain health conditions.

If you are ill, UKHSA says you can help protect others by washing your hands regularly, especially after coughing or sneezing, staying at home if you can and consider wearing a mask if you do have to go into public places.

Prof Ball says it is right to take precautions to try to protect vulnerable people, but adds if you are healthy and young or of working age, getting the odd respiratory illness is pretty inevitable and not necessarily a bad thing.

“Most people will get one or two respiratory infections every year. In some ways, it’s a good thing when you are a child or healthy adult.

“By getting exposed you are building up your immunity through natural infection – so when you are older you hopefully have enough immunity to not get severely ill.”