The public is being strongly advised to limit their interactions with others if they experience flu or COVID-19 symptoms as the NHS braces for a challenging winter season. This call to action comes as a mutated version of the H3N2 flu strain leads to a significant and earlier increase in infections and hospitalizations. Dr. Conall Watson, a Consultant Epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), is urging those eligible for vaccination to do so without delay.

Dr. Watson stated, “We can all take straightforward measures to safeguard each other during the festive season. If you experience symptoms such as a high temperature, cough, or feel fatigued and achy, it’s important to minimize your contact with others, particularly those more susceptible to illness. Regular handwashing and ensuring good ventilation indoors are effective preventative steps. If you must go out while symptomatic, consider wearing a face mask.”

This guidance is crucial as the holiday season approaches, a time when families gather, often including elderly relatives who are at greater risk of severe illness.

However, some flu symptoms may not be widely recognized. The NHS identifies ten common flu symptoms that can emerge rapidly.

Among these, three symptoms that might not be immediately associated with flu include difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, and feeling unusually tired or exhausted. These signs are easily overlooked or attributed to stress, especially during the hectic lead-up to Christmas.

The NHS website also lists seven additional common flu symptoms:

• a sudden high temperature
• an aching body
• a dry cough
• a sore throat
• a headache
• diarrhoea or tummy pain
• feeling sick and being sick

The NHS is this week facing a double whammy of surging winter viruses and the start of a five-day walk-out by resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors.

Health chiefs and the Government have urged doctors to call off the  strike, which ministers have branded “reckless” and “irresponsible” at a time of such high pressure for the NHS.

Shabana Mahmood said any strikes in the NHS “undoubtedly” put lives at risk. Asked what she thought of how doctors had dealt with the dispute, the Home Secretary told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “We want to make sure that the NHS is supported through a difficult winter and through this particular flu outbreak that we’re seeing at the moment, and I just think it’s really important that everybody realises what’s at stake here.

“I do think there’s a bit of a difference between the stance that the leadership of the resident doctors has taken and the individual views of those doctors themselves.”