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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

7/ Resources Report 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s... National flu & COVID-19 surveillance data: 08 October 2026 (week 03) 🔗: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ac689... National flu & COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2026 to 2027 season repository 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s... /end

gov.uk

National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2026 to 2027 season

National influenza (flu) and COVID-19 report, monitoring COVID-19 activity, seasonal flu and other seasonal respiratory illnesses.

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

6/ Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in GP patients: 2- & 3-year-old children 📊 Data up to end of week 40 2026 (04 Oct 2026), from 98.8% of GP practices reporting weekly vaccine uptake data ▶️ 16.5% in all 2 year olds ▶️ 16.4% in all 3 year olds 💉 Uptake vs equivalent week in 2025/26: ⬇️

Influenza vaccine uptake in GP patients

Weekly vaccine uptake data is provisional.

Influenza vaccination is reported by GP practice through the ImmForm website. ImmForm provides a secure online platform for vaccine uptake data collection for several immunisation surveys, including the seasonal influenza vaccine uptake collection. Details can be found at sources of surveillance data for influenza, COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sources-of-surveillance-data-for-influenza-covid-19-and-other-respiratory-viruses#vaccine-uptake

For the 2026 to 2027 season’s vaccination programme, as in the previous two seasons, children and pregnant women have been eligible since 1 September. For this current season and the previous two season (2026 to 2027, 2025 to 2026 and 2024 to 2025 seasons respectively), adult groups (excluding pregnant women) were eligible from 1 October, rather than 1 September as in previous seasons. See Timing section of the annual flu letter for more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-flu-immunisation-programme-plan-2026-to-2027.

Up to the end of week 40 of 2026 (Sunday 4 October 2026), the provisional proportion of people in England who had received an influenza vaccine this season in targeted groups was:

Children (98.8% of GP practices reporting):
- 16.5% of children aged 2 years
- 16.4% in children aged 3 years

Compared with the equivalent week last season (2025 to 2026), vaccine uptake is lower in those aged 65 years and over, 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups, and 2 and 3-year-olds. Vaccine uptake is comparable for pregnant women. Some data relating to uptake in pharmacies was unavailable or incomplete at the time of reporting. Findings should be interpreted with caution, particularly in those aged 65 years or older, 6 months to under 65 years in risk groups and pregnant women, as results may be subject to change when additional data become available.

Up to the end of week 40 of 2026 (Sunday 4 October 2026), the provisional proportion of people in England who had received an influenza vaccine this season in targeted groups was as follows:

Children (98.8% of GP practices reporting):
- 16.5% of children aged 2 years
- 16.4% in children aged 3 years

Compared with the equivalent week last season (2025 to 2026), vaccine uptake is lower in those aged 65 years and over, 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups, and 2 and 3-year-olds. Vaccine uptake is comparable for pregnant women. Some data relating to uptake in pharmacies was unavailable or incomplete at the time of reporting. Findings should be interpreted with caution, particularly in those aged 65 years or older, 6 months to under 65 years in risk groups and pregnant women, as results may be subject to change when additional data become available.

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

5/ Vaccine uptake in GP patients 💉 Provisional data up to 04 Oct 2026 from 98.7% of GP practices reporting weekly vaccine uptake ▶️ 65+ years: 9.9% (⬇️ vs equivalent week in 2025/2026) ▶️ Under 65 years in clinical risk group: 4.9% (⬇️ vs equiv wk 25/26) ▶️ Pregnant women: 16.4% (↔️ vs equiv wk 25/26)

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

4/ Virus antigenic characterisation 🧫 Uses haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assays. 🛡️ Compares how similar currently circulating influenza viruses are to strains included in Northern Hemisphere 2026/27 seasonal influenza vaccine strains. 🔎 Monitors for changes in circulating influenza viruses.

Antigenic characterisation.

UKHSA RVU performs antigenic characterisation of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, influenza A(H3N2) and influenza B viruses using haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assays. Data from these assays are used to compare how similar the currently circulating influenza viruses are to the strains included in seasonal influenza vaccines, and to monitor for changes in circulating influenza viruses. Similarity of currently circulating influenza strains to vaccine strains is defined as having an antibody titre within 4-fold when compared to reference viruses representative of the vaccine strain. Antigenic characterisation of viruses in the current reporting period is underway.

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

3/ Virus genetic characterisation 🗓️ Between 30 Aug 2026 – 04 Oct 2026 🧬 UKHSA respiratory virus unit has genetically characterised 92 seasonal influenza viruses ▶️ Most flu A (85/92) ▶️ ~52% of the flu A is A(H1N1)pdm09 (44/85)

Influenza virus characterisation

Analysis of viruses from primary and secondary care shows that circulating A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses show low genetic diversity and all belong to clade D.3.1.1.

Observations published from the WHO influenza vaccine composition meeting (VCM) in September 2026 suggest low reactivity of some viruses within the D.3.1.1 subclade with post-infection ferret antisera raised against A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus – the A(H1N1)pdm09 component in 2026 Southern and 2026/2027 Northern Hemisphere cell and egg based influenza vaccines - and human sera post-vaccination with the Southern Hemisphere vaccine 2026.

It is not yet clear how vaccine effectiveness against clinical disease may be affected by these observations. Vaccines typically still provide protection against severe clinical disease when drifted strains are seen with only a modest reduction in effectiveness.

The characterisation of circulating A(H3N2) viruses show that A(H3N2) viruses are currently showing low genetic diversity. All sequenced viruses to date belong to genetic subclade K.

To date, only a small number of influenza B viruses have been detected, which show some genetic diversity.

Genetic characterisation
Between week 35 2026 (week ending 30 August 2026) and week 40 2026 (week ending 4 October 2026), the UKHSA respiratory virus unit (RVU) has genetically characterised 92 seasonal influenza viruses, and identified 44 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses, 41 influenza A(H3N2) viruses, and 7 influenza B viruses. Details of the characterised viruses by subtype are shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3. The RVU has not yet confirmed the detection of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) viruses in any influenza A/B positive sample, collected from children aged between 2 and 16 years of age by genome sequencing.

Table 1. Number of influenza A H1N1(pdm09) viruses characterised by genetic analysis at the UKHSA Respiratory Virus Unit since week 35 2026

Clade: 5a.2a.1

Subclade: D.3.1.1
Detections: 44

Table 2. Number of influenza A(H3N2) viruses characterised by genetic analysis at the UKHSA Respiratory Virus Unit since week 35 2026

Clade: 2a.3a.1

Subclade: K (J.2.4.1)
Detections: 41

Table 3. Number of influenza B viruses characterised by genetic analysis at the UKHSA Respiratory Virus Unit since week 35 2026

Clade: V1A.3a.2

Subclade: C.3.1
Detections: 1

Subclade: C.5.6
Detections: 5

Subclade: C.5.6.1
Detections: 1

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

2/ Influenza activity level (AL) indicators 🔬 Lab surveillance influenza positivity: ⬆️ (AL: Low) 🥼 Influenza-like illnesses GP consultations: ⬆️ (AL: Baseline) 🧬 GP swabbing positivity: ⬆️ (AL: Baseline) 🏥 Hospital admissions: No trend (AL: Baseline) 🚑 ICU admissions: No trend (AL: Baseline)

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

1/ Seasonal influenza summary from latest @ukhsa.bsky.social surveillance report. #IDSky #EpiSky 🧪 🗓️ Based on data up to week 40 2026 (28 Sep – 04 Oct 2026) 📊 Influenza activity increasing. Most surveillance indicators reporting baseline levels of influenza. Report 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s...

gov.uk

National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report: 8 October 2026 (week 41)

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European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control @ecdc.europa.eu · 06/10/2026

Update of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in DRC - 6 Oct: On 5 Oct, DRC reported a total of 8 603 cases & 4 148 deaths (59 new cases & 34 deaths since the last update). 896 patients remain in isolation. EU/EEA risk assessment remains VERY LOW. bit.ly/ECDCEbolaDRC #IDsky #EpiSky #Ebola

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

📰 DEFRA avian influenza update on 02 Oct 2026. 🐔 HPAI H5N5 confirmed in commercial backyard poultry at a premises in Isle of Lewis, Scotland. 📊 First confirmed HPAI case in poultry in UK in 2026 to 2027 season. ❌ Great Britain has lost its freedom from highly pathogenic avian influenza status.

gov.uk

Bird flu (avian influenza): latest situation in England

Find out about the latest bird flu situation in England and guidance for bird keepers and the public.

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

🗣️ Included an opportunity to present with my collaborator Gilman Siu (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) on our project studying epidemiological surveillance & assessing public risk of food-mediated AMR. 🔗 Find out more about the partnership: www.thepandemicinstitute.org/news/new-fun...

thepandemicinstitute.org

New funding boost for The Pandemic Institute Liverpool – Hong Kong Partnership – The Pandemic Institute

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

ℹ️ Great scientific discussions at the symposium for The Pandemic Institute-Hong Kong Partnership, supported by The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong. @thepandemicinst.bsky.social 💫 Featured a plenary talk by Kelvin To (The University of Hong Kong) on "Emerging infections: looking back and moving forward".

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Released today: September 2026 newsletter from the JUNIPER Partnership (@juniper-network.bsky.social)! Read about: 📰 News updates 🗣️ JUNIPER Online Seminar Series 📄 Research from across the JUNIPER Partnership 🎓 Training 🎙️ Podcasts 🔗 to the newsletter: mailchi.mp/maths/junipe...

mailchi.mp

JUNIPER Newsletter - September 2026

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Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD) @gs-idd.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

ℹ️ Our IDD Connect Series brings together the global infectious disease dynamics community through region-focused sessions. 📹 Watch previous sessions on Oceania, Africa, Asia & North America: www.youtube.com/@GS-IDD 📣 Future planned sessions: ‘IDD Connect Europe’; ‘ IDD Connect Latin America’.

youtube.com

Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics

Recordings from events of the Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD).

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Public Health, Policy and Systems @ University of Liverpool @livuni-phps.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

📣 Upcoming inaugural lecture: Ben Barr (Professor of Applied Public Health) 💷 “The Epidemiology of Money: How money - and what governments do with it - shapes health and health inequalities”. 🗓️ 17:30-19:00, Thu 08 Oct 2026. 📍 Central Teaching Hub - Lecture Theatre C, University of Liverpool.

ticketsource.com

"Professor Ben Barr - Inaugural lecture" at Central Teaching Hub - Lecture Theatre C

Tickets are now available for Professor Ben Barr - Inaugural lecture at Central Teaching Hub - Lecture Theatre C, University of Liverpool on Thursday 8th October 2026 at 5:30PM. Click the link for fur...

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

WHO @who.int · 28/09/2026

Recommended composition of #influenza vaccines for use in the 2027 southern hemisphere influenza season: bit.ly/4ym6ptq

WHO recommends that vaccines for use in the 2027 southern hemisphere influenza season contain the following:

Egg-based vaccines

an A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Darwin/1454/2025 (H3N2)-like virus; and
a B/Tokyo/EIS13-175/2025 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.
Cell culture-, recombinant protein- or nucleic acid-based vaccines

an A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Darwin/1415/2025 (H3N2)-like virus; and
a B/Pennsylvania/14/2025 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.

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Michael Plank @michaelplanknz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The last two weeks have the lowest average recorded SARS-CoV-2 wastewater levels in NZ of any time since Feb 2022 (before omicron took off) poops.nz

poops.nz

ESR Wastewater Surveillance

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Resources Report 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s... National flu & COVID-19 surveillance data: 24 September 2026 (week 39) 🔗: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ab3d6... National flu & COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2026 to 2027 season repository 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s... /end

gov.uk

National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2026 to 2027 season

National influenza (flu) and COVID-19 report, monitoring COVID-19 activity, seasonal flu and other seasonal respiratory illnesses.

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Influenza activity level (AL) indicators 🔬 Lab surveillance influenza positivity: ⬆️ (AL: Baseline) 🥼 GP swabbing positivity: ⬆️ (AL: Low)

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Seasonal influenza summary from latest @ukhsa.bsky.social surveillance report. #IDSky #EpiSky 🧪 🗓️ Based on data up to week 38 2026 (14-20 Sep 2026) 📊 Seasonal influenza circulating at baseline levels in England. Activity increasing. Report 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s...

gov.uk

National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report: 24 September 2026 (week 39)

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

📄 UKHSA expands wastewater surveillance to strengthen ‘early warning system’ for dangerous pathogens. ℹ️ Extending surveillance to targeted hospital wastewater sites and high-footfall locations including transport hubs. 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/n...

gov.uk

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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

What's behind this tidal wave of epidemics? In the largest study ever conducted on emerging infectious diseases, we show that the popular explanation - "our relationship with nature is out of balance" - doesn't hold up. Out now in Nature, after half a decade of work: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

The anthropogenic fingerprint on emerging infectious diseases - Nature

Emerging infectious disease outbreak risks are ubiquitous worldwide, and highest in landscapes where people, livestock and fragmented natural ecosystems coexist, but detection and data ...

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD) @gs-idd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

📹 The recording of the GSIDD Latin America Outreach event is available on the GSIDD YouTube channel! #IDsky #EpiSky 🧪 ℹ️ Session in Spanish, slides in English. 🔗: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI1H...

youtube.com

LATAM Session Sep2026 recording

YouTube video by Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

There are now four IDD Connect series events available to view on the Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD) YouTube channel. @gs-idd.bsky.social #IDsky #Episky 🧪 1️⃣ Oceania 2️⃣ Africa 3️⃣ Asia 4️⃣ North America: US & Canada Also available: ▶️ GSIDD Launch ▶️ Latin America Info Session

youtube.com

Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics

Recordings from events of the Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD).

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

Bloom lab @jbloomlab.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

We have measured 47,851 neutralization titers of current human sera vs current influenza strains to inform vaccine update & analyses of viral evolution. New H1N1 strains (eg, D.3.1.1 + G155E) have reduced neutralization, as do some H3N2 subclade K descendants. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

Near real-time data on the human neutralizing antibody landscape to influenza virus in summer of 2026 shows antigenic advance of H3N2 subclade K region D mutants and H1N1 D.3.1.1 Sa mutants

Human seasonal influenza evolves rapidly, necessitating twice yearly decisions about whether to update the strains in the vaccine. To help inform this decision, we have been using high-throughput sequ...

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Billy Quilty @bquilty.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

A nice concept but seems a bit... obvious...? to be in Nature? Ah, it was first up on arxiv a year ago. Perhaps says a lot about how quickly things are progressing in the field that this seems less than revolutionary - like in COVID, journals will struggle to keep up arxiv.org/abs/2509.06917

arxiv.org

Paper2Agent: Reimagining Research Papers As Interactive and Reliable AI Agents

We introduce Paper2Agent, an automated framework that converts research papers into AI agents. Paper2Agent transforms research output from passive artifacts into active systems that can accelerate dow...

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control @ecdc.europa.eu · 17/09/2026

Update of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in DRC - 17 Sep: On 16 Sep, DRC reported a total of 7 404 cases and 3 577 deaths (59 new cases & 32 deaths since the last update on 15 September). 930 patients remain in isolation. EU/EEA risk assessment remains VERY LOW. More info: bit.ly/ECDCEbolaDRC

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BF Francis Ouellette @bffo.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Happy to see this one out in @plos.org #Computational #Biology | Ten simple rules for suggesting reviewers during a paper submission | #Education #PLOSCBTSR #Writing #Reviewing #Rule10PayItForward | 🧪🔓 🇺🇸🇨🇭🇧🇷🇨🇦 CC/ @ppalagi.bsky.social @fmacg.bsky.social ⬇️ journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...

journals.plos.org

Ten simple rules for suggesting reviewers during a paper submission

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Check out this funded PhD with the Skittrall Group, Cambridge - it has an epidemiological project slant involving Gemma Chaters. Contact @skittrallj.bsky.social to discuss further.

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD) @gs-idd.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

📹 The recording of ‘IDD Connect: North America (US & Canada)’ event is available on the GSIDD YouTube channel! 🔗: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BUA... 📧 Sign up to the GSIDD mailing list to receive IDD Connect Series information & other GSIDD news: www.gsidd.org/join-us #IDsky #EpiSky 🧪

youtube.com

GSIDD IDD Connect: North America (US & Canada)

YouTube video by Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics

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Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD) @gs-idd.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

❓Have you viewed our GSIDD resources available to our community? 👥 Community organisations: www.gsidd.org/idd-orgs 🌍 DEI: www.gsidd.org/idd-dei 💼 Jobs: www.gsidd.org/idd-jobs 🗣️ Seminars: www.gsidd.org/idd-seminars 🎓 Training: www.gsidd.org/idd-training #IDsky #EpiSky #PublicHealth #OneHealth 🧪

gsidd.org

Resources | GSIDD

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Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

#USDA reports that 2 more Texas dairy cow herds have tested positive for #H5N1 #birdflu. That brings the number of declared outbreaks from Texas to 38 and the national tally to 1,177 herds in 19 states. www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-po...

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Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD) @gs-idd.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

⏳ Reminder of today’s two GSIDD events. 1️⃣ GSIDD Latin American Outreach. 12:30-13:30 Chile Time. 2️⃣ IDD Connect North America. 13:00-14:00 US Eastern Time. 🔗 Zoom link | Add to calendar link | Time zone guide: www.gsidd.org/events #IDsky #EpiSky #PublicHealth #OneHealth 🧪

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

3/ Resources Report 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s... National flu & COVID-19 surveillance data: 10 September 2026 (week 37) 🔗: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6aa16b... National flu & COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2026 to 2027 season repository 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s... /end

gov.uk

National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2026 to 2027 season

National influenza (flu) and COVID-19 report, monitoring COVID-19 activity, seasonal flu and other seasonal respiratory illnesses.

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Influenza activity level (AL) indicators 🔬 Lab surveillance influenza positivity: ⬆️ (AL: Baseline) 🥼 GP swabbing positivity: ⬇️ (AL: Baseline)

Seasonal influenza circulating at baseline levels in England. Activity increasing.

Indicator: Laboratory surveillance
Trend: Increasing
Level: Baseline
Data: Influenza positivity increased with a rolling 7-day positivity rate on the most recent Sunday of 2.8% compared with 2.4% on the previous Sunday.

Indicator: GP swabbing positivity
Trend: Decreasing
Level: Baseline
Data: In week 35, among all tested samples, 5.6% were positive for influenza, compared with 11.7% in the previous week.

Note: These indicators use the moving epidemic method (MEM) and the mean standard deviation method (MSD) to define thresholds to determine their respective levels of activity. Further information on these methods can be found in ‘Influenza surveillance in Europe: establishing epidemic thresholds by the Moving Epidemic Method’ (available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1750-2659.2012.00422.x) and ‘Setting thresholds to determine COVID-19 activity levels using the mean standard deviation’ (MSD) method, England, 2022 to 2024 (available at https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.45.2400696). The MEM approach is well-established for some influenza surveillance indicators, however, for other indicators both the MEM and MSD are experimental and may be subject to future revision. Influenza laboratory surveillance and GP swabbing positivity have transitioned from using MEM to using MSD. These approaches will be considered alongside expert opinion and triangulation of other data sources.

Laboratory-confirmed cases

The Second Generation Surveillance System (SGSS) captures test result information for notifiable infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza, from laboratories in England. The unified sample dataset (USD), used to calculate the percentage tests positive for SARS-CoV-2 among all SARS-CoV-2 tests, stores all SARS-CoV-2 test results reported to SGSS, Respiratory DataMart, and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) laboratories.

Influenza positivity in week 36 increased, with a rolling 7-day positivity rate of 2.8% up to Sunday 6 September 2026, compared with 2.4% on the previous Sunday.

Due to an ongoing data quality issue resulting in more tests than usual being removed, historical positivity for influenza may be slightly lower in reports published from week 25 2026 onwards. Historical estimates will be updated once the affected data has been rectified.

Rolling 7-day positivity of tests positive for influenza among all reported influenza tests, England 2022 to present

Influenza positivity increased with a rolling 7-day positivity rate on the most recent Sunday of 2.8% compared with 2.4% on the previous Sunday.

Respiratory DataMart System

Respiratory DataMart is a sentinel laboratory-based surveillance system where participating laboratories report positive and negative test results for a number of respiratory viruses from samples primarily taken in hospital. A small proportion of primary care samples are also included in this reporting.

In week 36, data is based on reporting from 8 out of the 14 sentinel laboratories.

In week 36, 1,705 respiratory specimens reported through the Respiratory DataMart System were tested for influenza. There were 42 positive samples for influenza: 23 influenza A (not subtyped), 10 influenza A (H3N2), 7 influenza A (H1N1)pdm09, and 2 influenza B. Overall, influenza positivity remained stable at 2.5% in week 36 compared with 2.4% in the previous week.

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Seasonal influenza summary from latest @ukhsa.bsky.social surveillance report. #IDSky #EpiSky 🧪 🗓️ Based on data up to week 36 2026 (31 Aug - 06 Sep 2026) 📊 Seasonal influenza circulating at baseline levels in England. Activity increasing. Report 🔗: www.gov.uk/government/s...

gov.uk

National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report: 10 September 2026 (week 37)

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Thomas House @tah-sci.com · 07/09/2026

New Preprint: "Symptom clusters in Long COVID in the UK: prospective community-based cohort study using unsupervised machine learning" Long COVID, alongside other post-viral conditions, remains a large problem with many open questions. We use a large community dataset to > arxiv.org/abs/2609.05213

arxiv.org

Symptom clusters in Long COVID in the UK: prospective community-based cohort study using unsupervised machine learning

Long COVID is a condition usually defined by persisting symptoms following infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus beyond the acute phase of infection. The condition has a significant impact on healthcare s...

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JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

We've recently introduced our new JUNIPER Fellows – but what does being a Fellow involve? 2025 Fellow @joebhilton.bsky.social joined our friends at @plusmaths.bsky.social to discuss health economics, mathematical modelling and how evidence becomes NHS policy. Listen: plus.maths.org/joe-hilton-s...

plus.maths.org

Joe Hilton: Striking the balance with health economics

Should a life-saving, but expensive, cancer drug be made available on the NHS even though it only benefits very few people? We spoke to Joe Hilton, a health economist, to understand more about how dif...

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

🦆 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza – WOAH Sit Rep 86 #IDSky #OneHealth 🧪 🗓️ Covers Aug 2026 📊 Outbreaks reported in Americas, Asia & Europe: 3 in poultry; 42 in non-poultry birds & mammals. ▶️ Reported total of approx. 75k poultry birds died or culled in Aug 2026. 🔗: www.woah.org/app/uploads/...

HPAI key figures for the current seasonal wave (Oct 2025 - Sep 2026) and the two previous waves (Oct 2023 - Sep 2024; Oct 2024 - Sep 2025).

01 Oct 2023 – 30 Sep 2024.
Countries and territories reporting HPAI in poultry: 39
No. of HPAI outbreaks in poultry: 851
Countries and territories reporting HPAI in wild birds: 55
No. of HPAI outbreaks in wild birds: 1,076

01 Oct 2024 – 30 Sep 2025
Countries and territories reporting HPAI in poultry: 51
No. of HPAI outbreaks in poultry: 1,431
Countries and territories reporting HPAI in wild birds: 55
No. of HPAI outbreaks in wild birds: 1,926

01 Oct 2025 – 31 Aug 2026
Countries and territories reporting HPAI in poultry: 46
No. of HPAI outbreaks in poultry: 1,614
Countries and territories reporting HPAI in wild birds: 59
No. of HPAI outbreaks in wild birds: 7,444

During August 2026, 3 new outbreaks in poultry were notified by 3 countries and territories (Chinese Taipei, Sweden, United States of America).

Number of new outbreaks, associated cases and losses by geographical region (losses include animals dead and killed and disposed of within outbreaks – they do not include culling around outbreaks). It should also be noted that some countries or territories are unable to provide a precise number of cases and leave this field blank in the report.

New outbreak statistics. Americas: 1; Asia and the Pacific: 1; Europe 1.

Cases statistics. Asia and the Pacific: 3; Europe: 67.

Losses statistics. Americas: 74,903; Asia and the Pacific: 25; Europe: 145.

During August 2026, 42 new outbreaks in non-poultry were notified by 8 countries and territories (Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom).

The number of HPAI new outbreaks in non-poultry animals reported through WAHIS by geographical region during August 2026:

Americas: 1 (all in non-poultry birds).
Asia and the Pacific: 29 (all in non-poultry birds).
Europe: 12 (all in non-poultry birds).

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Adam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

What I learned about the Substack algorithm from digging into 3 years of data: kucharski.substack.com/p/what-i-lea...

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JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Enjoyed meeting our new JUNIPER Fellows? Keep up with what they do next. Our newsletter shares Fellows' news and achievements, JUNIPER seminars and events, plus opportunities and updates from across the wider infectious disease modelling community.

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

🚨 PDRA opportunity in avian influenza modelling in cattle. 🏫 Based at University of Edinburgh with @rowlandkao.bsky.social. 👥 Collab w/ Colorado State University, Linköping University, University of Liverpool, University of Warwick. 📅 21-month fixed term post. ⏳ Apply by 23:59 BST, 29 Sep 2026.

jobs.ac.uk

Postdoctoral Research Associate at The University of Edinburgh

An academic position as a Postdoctoral Research Associate is being advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Click now to find more details and explore additional academic job opportunities.

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Our final introduction in this series is dp440.bsky.social from @uniofleicester.bsky.social. Daniel's research combines clinical studies, laboratory science and epidemiology to better understand respiratory virus transmission and improve public health decision-making. Congratulations, Daniel!

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Global Society for Infectious Disease Dynamics (GSIDD) @gs-idd.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

💬 Ask the Infectious Disease Dynamics (IDD) community 💬 ❓ Where did you first feel like you "found your people" in this field? ✍ Please let us know your views! #IDsky #EpiSky 🧪 📧 Sign up for our mailing list to get GSIDD news & updates: www.gsidd.org/join-us

gsidd.org

Join Us | GSIDD

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

We're delighted to introduce Sangeeta Bhatia imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social as one of our 2026 JUNIPER Fellows. Sangeeta's research helps improve evidence generation and decision-making during infectious disease outbreaks, with a particular interest in research software. Congrats, Sangeeta!

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Dr Edward Hill @edmhill.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

👓 Read the August 2026 newsletter from the JUNIPER Partnership (@juniper-network.bsky.social) ℹ️ Updates on JUNIPER Online Seminar Series & collab with Plus magazine (free platform that communicates research in the mathematical sciences to wider audiences) 6️⃣ Announcement of six new JUNIPER Fellows!

mailchi.mp

JUNIPER Newsletter - August 2026

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Reposted by Dr Edward Hill

JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Next up in this series introducing our 2026 JUNIPER Fellows is Dr Zixuan Liu of ai4cihub.bsky.social bristoluni.bsky.social. Zixuan develops spatial modelling and machine learning approaches to improve infectious disease forecasting and outbreak response.

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JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Meet thomrawson.bsky.social from oxforddemsci.bsky.social – another of our 2026 JUNIPER Fellows. Thom researches how demographic change affects disease transmission and healthcare demand, alongside real-time epidemic modelling and science communication. Congratulations, Thom!

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JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Meet Alin Morariu from uniofnottingham.bsky.social. – one of our new 2026 JUNIPER Fellows. Alin develops Bayesian and computational methods for infectious disease modelling, combining high-performance computing, open-source software and AI to tackle epidemiological challenges. Congrats, Alin!

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JUNIPER @juniper-network.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Learn more about Fanny’s work and the JUNIPER Fellowship programme: juniper.maths.org

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