General Practice

Influenza - GP Consultations

Aged 65 years and over

The graph below shows weekly GP consultation rates for flu by patients aged 65 years and over. Again no major rise in flu-related consultations was seen in this age category over the last five flu seasons (2003/04 to 2007/08), with the highest peak (in February 2005) reaching just over 60 consultations per 100,000 population each week. All these rises in consultation rates are dwarfed by the peak in January 2000, when the weekly consultation rate reached 300 consultations per 100,000 population (figures not shown). Although in that flu season people of all ages were affected, the rise in GP consultation rates was largest among the elderly.

Estimated number of GP consultations for influenza in Scotland per week, per 100,000 population;
patients aged 65 years & over weeks 40 to 14; years 2003/04 to 2007/08^p

GP_flu_contacts_65plus

Notes:
1. Based on 47, 44, 44, 47 and 46 PTI practices that submitted complete data for flu seasons (weeks 40 - 14) 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08, respectively.
2. PTI data are collated by financial year and therefore figures are shown up to week 14 (in some years week 14 may extend past 31 March).
3. Following a substantial review of PTI procedures, the methods used for data from 2003/04 onwards have been updated. These figures may therefore differ from any estimates provided prior to 27th March 2007.
4. The clinical (Read) codes used to identify "influenza-like illness" for the above analysis are listed in a downloadable excel file (17 Kb).

^p Data for 2007/08 are provisional.