{"id":43448,"date":"2025-12-26T00:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T00:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/mutated-h3n2-flu-virus-is-circulating\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T00:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T00:56:10","slug":"mutated-h3n2-flu-virus-is-circulating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/mutated-h3n2-flu-virus-is-circulating\/","title":{"rendered":"Mutated H3N2 flu virus is circulating"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Michelle Roberts<\/span>Digital health editor<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Flu has come early this winter with a new mutated version of the virus circulating. <\/p>\n

The NHS has already sent out a “flu jab SOS” encouraging vulnerable people to get their free vaccination. <\/p>\n

But should you pay for a jab even if you are generally fit and healthy, and how do you get one?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What has been happening this winter?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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The version circulating this winter is H3N2 “subclade K”, a type of seasonal influenza A virus. Some are calling it “super flu”.<\/p>\n

That is not a medical term, and it does not mean the virus itself has become harder to treat.<\/p>\n

But people have not encountered much of it in recent years, which means there is less built up immunity against it in the community. <\/p>\n

Flu jabs still work to protect against severe illness. <\/p>\n

In early December, the number of flu patients in hospital hit a record high in England for this time of year<\/a>. There were an average of 2,660 patients a day in hospital with flu – a rise of 55% on the previous week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But that rise slowed and has now decreased, latest figures show.<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr Jamie Lopez-Bernal, Consultant Epidemiologist at UK Health Security Agency said there was “some encouraging news” for the festive season “as we’re seeing flu levels continuing to decline and fewer people having to be admitted to hospital over the past week.”<\/p>\n

But he warned that the virus “is still very much with us”, adding “everyone, especially those most vulnerable to these winter bugs, needs to take care to protect themselves or help not to spread these viruses to others”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When will the current flu season peak?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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It’s difficult to predict how long this wave of flu will last. <\/p>\n

NHS national medical director Meghana Pandit has warned that the health service is “not out of the woods yet”.<\/p>\n

People will also be socialising more during the Christmas and New Year period, and that gives the virus more opportunities to spread.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Who needs a flu jab?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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The NHS offers a free flu vaccine<\/a> to those who need it most, including: <\/p>\n