47% stayed off, 14% called anyone: what 68,000 surveys say about how we handle flu
What happened
On 15 October 2026, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published new findings about what people actually do when they come down with flu-like symptoms. The data comes from FluSurvey, which UKHSA describes as the UK's longest-running participatory surveillance system. It works differently from most health data. Instead of counting people who turn up at a GP surgery or hospital, it asks members of the public to report their own symptoms each week, whether or not they saw anyone about them. That means it captures the illness that never reaches the NHS at all. The findings draw on more than 68,000 weekly symptom surveys across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 winter seasons. Three numbers stand out. First, 47% of people who were in work or education and had flu-like symptoms missed work or school. That is nearly half. Second, only 14% sought help from their GP or another healthcare service. The large majority managed at home. Third, most people who treated their symptoms reached for medication, and the most common choice was painkillers. Dr Becki Green, Principal Scientist for Respiratory Viruses at UKHSA, tied the findings straight back to prevention: 'This is why getting your flu vaccine is so important.' Dr Jamie Lopez-Bernal, Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA, added that flu levels are currently low but that this can change quickly, so 'vaccination remains our best defence.'
Why this matters
Flu gets talked about as a hospital story. Most of it isn't. Most of it happens on sofas. That is the real value of these figures. Hospital and GP data tell you about the sharp end. FluSurvey tells you about the wide middle, and the wide middle turns out to be where nearly all of the disruption sits. If 47% of working and studying people with symptoms are off, and only 14% contact the NHS, then the cost of flu is mostly being paid in missed shifts, missed lessons, unpaid days and rearranged childcare, not in hospital beds. For employers and schools, that reframes things. Nearly half of affected people being absent is a staffing problem you can plan for, and partly prevent. For households, it explains something many people have felt but not seen written down. If you manage flu at home, nobody counts you. Your week off does not appear in any statistic. FluSurvey is an attempt to fix that, and it only works because members of the public volunteer their time each week to fill in a form when they feel rotten. That is a quietly generous thing to do, and UKHSA is asking for more people to sign up this season. There is also a timing point. Both Dr Green and Dr Lopez-Bernal made the same argument: the figures are a reason to get vaccinated now, while levels are still low, rather than once flu is everywhere. Vaccines take a couple of weeks to give their full protection. The quiet part of the season is the useful part.
What the evidence actually says
These are self-reported figures, and it is worth being straight about what that means. FluSurvey asks people to describe their own symptoms. It does not test them. So 'flu-like symptoms' is not the same as confirmed influenza. Plenty of the illness captured will have been other winter viruses, including common colds, COVID-19 and RSV. The survey measures the experience of being ill with flu-like symptoms, which is genuinely useful, but it is not a count of laboratory-confirmed flu. The people who take part are also volunteers. They chose to sign up, which means they may be more health-aware than the general population. People who are more health-aware might behave differently from average, in either direction. UKHSA is clear that this is participatory surveillance, and that is a strength for coverage and a limitation for representativeness. With those caveats, the sample is large. More than 68,000 weekly surveys across two winters is a substantial base, and the broad pattern it shows is consistent with what GPs and pharmacists describe: most respiratory illness is self-managed, and painkillers are the usual first move. One figure deserves a second look. Only 14% sought medical help. That is not necessarily a problem. For most healthy adults, rest, fluids and paracetamol genuinely are the right answer, and not bothering the NHS with ordinary flu is sensible. The question is whether the 14% includes the people who should have sought help. The survey cannot tell us that. On the current season, Dr Lopez-Bernal's framing was careful: levels are low now, but that could change. Low is not the same as safe.
Qurexa perspective
We are a healthcare logistics and pharmacy delivery company, so this is our bread and butter, and the 47% figure is the bit we recognise. The official advice in these findings is to stay at home if you have flu-like symptoms, avoid contact with vulnerable people, and not visit anyone at greater risk in hospitals or care homes. Good advice. But it quietly assumes you have no reason to leave the house. For a lot of people, there is one reason: the pharmacy. If you take a regular medicine and your repeat runs out in the same week you come down with flu, 'stay at home' and 'collect your prescription' pull in opposite directions. People go out when they are infectious, stand in a queue, and hand their germs to whoever is next in line, who may well be there because they are unwell too. That is the specific gap prescription delivery closes. It is not a luxury; it is infection control. If your medicine comes to your door, staying at home stops being a choice between following advice and having your tablets. Two honest limits. First, delivery helps with repeat medicines, not with the flu itself; painkillers from a supermarket shelf will do the same job whoever brings them. Second, we cannot help you get vaccinated. That happens at a pharmacy, a GP surgery or through the NHS App, and it is worth doing before you need it.
Practical advice
The findings come with clear advice from UKHSA and NHS England. The short version: Get the free NHS flu vaccine if you are eligible, and do it early in the season rather than late. You can check eligibility and book through the NHS App or the NHS website, your GP practice, or a participating pharmacy. Dr Amanda Doyle, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NHS England, noted that more than 7 million children and adults have already had their flu vaccine this season. If you have children who are eligible, get them vaccinated as early in the season as you can. The children's vaccine is usually a nasal spray, not an injection. If you have flu-like symptoms, stay at home. Wash your hands properly and often. Cover coughs and sneezes, and bin the tissue. Avoid contact with people who are vulnerable, and do not visit anyone at greater risk in a hospital or care home. For most healthy adults, treat symptoms at home with rest, plenty of fluids and painkillers such as paracetamol if you need them, following the dose on the packet. A pharmacist can advise if you are unsure what is safe alongside your other medicines. Do seek medical advice rather than waiting it out if you are struggling to breathe, if symptoms get suddenly worse, if you have chest pain, if a child is very drowsy or not drinking, or if you have a condition that makes infections riskier. Use NHS 111 if you are not sure, and 999 for an emergency. If you want to help with the data, you can sign up to take part in this year's FluSurvey yourself.
What to know
New UKHSA figures from more than 68,000 FluSurvey responses show that 47% of people in work or education who had flu-like symptoms missed work or school, and only 14% contacted the NHS. Most managed at home, usually with painkillers. The data is self-reported and comes from volunteers, so 'flu-like symptoms' is broader than confirmed flu. But the pattern is clear enough: the real weight of flu falls on households, workplaces and schools rather than on hospitals. Flu levels are low at the moment, which makes this the easy part of the season to act in. Get vaccinated if you are eligible, stay home if you have symptoms, and sort out in advance how medicines would reach you or anyone you care for if you were stuck indoors for a week. Sources: UK Health Security Agency, 'Data shows almost half of people with flu-like symptoms miss work or school', 15 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/data-shows-almost-half-of-people-with-flu-like-symptoms-miss-work-or-school; UK Health Security Agency, 'Latest weekly winter virus surveillance data', 15 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/latest-weekly-winter-virus-surveillance-data. This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. If you are worried about your symptoms, contact your GP practice or NHS 111, or call 999 in an emergency.
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