Is flu going around in Ireland?

Irish flu activity typically starts rising in November or December, peaks between December and February, and eases through March and April. Timing and intensity vary year to year with the dominant influenza subtypes and residual population immunity. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) publishes a weekly Respiratory Viruses Report describing the season in qualitative phases.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre classifies flu activity in qualitative bands (baseline, low, medium, high, very high) drawing on sentinel GP consultations for influenza-like illness, sentinel-laboratory positivity, hospitalisations, and ICU admissions for severe acute respiratory infection. Each week's classification is compared with historical reference ranges. HPSC also transmits Irish indicators to ECDC for inclusion in ERVISS.

Ireland's flu surveillance combines the ICGP/HPSC Sentinel GP Network reporting weekly influenza-like illness consultations, sentinel laboratories testing respiratory samples for influenza subtypes, and hospital-admission surveillance. The National Virus Reference Laboratory at UCD performs virological characterisation. Results feed HPSC's weekly Respiratory Viruses Report and ECDC ERVISS.

Ireland offers free seasonal flu vaccination each autumn to priority groups including adults aged 65 and above, pregnant women, people with chronic conditions, healthcare workers, and children aged 2–17 through a nasal-spray programme. Vaccines are administered through GPs and participating pharmacies under the HSE's seasonal campaign. HPSC publishes vaccination-coverage estimates alongside its weekly flu surveillance.

Because Ireland reports into ECDC ERVISS with harmonised indicators, its weekly flu classification is directly comparable with the UK, France, the Netherlands, and the rest of the EU/EEA. Ireland's Atlantic maritime climate and smaller population mean peaks can be narrower than in continental Europe. Lead–lag differences of a few weeks between Ireland and neighbours are common and visible in ECDC's dashboards.