Health leaders in the UK are warning that the National Health Service (NHS) is facing a “quad-demic” of health emergencies as winter approaches amid rising cases of flu, Covid-19, norovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) is currently monitoring the activity levels of the four illnesses that all peak throughout winter.

NHS officials say that hospitals are “busier than ever” for this time of year. According to new figures the number of people in hospital with flu has more than quadrupled compared with last year, while cases of Covid, norovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are also on the rise.

MSN reports: It comes as a record number of people are occupying hospital beds for this time of year due to a variety of illness and injury. An average of 96,587 hospital beds in England were occupied each day last week – more than have been recorded at this point in any other year.

People who are eligible for a free flu jab have been urged to take up the offer “as soon as possible” as hospital admissions for flu rose to a three-year high for this time of year. New figures for the NHS in England show that an average of 1,099 flu patients were in hospital beds each day last week, including 39 in critical care.

This is up sharply on the equivalent numbers for the same week in 2023, when the total was 243 with nine in critical care. Concerns had initially been raised over a “tripledemic” of flu, RSV and Covid-19 heaping additional pressure on the health service.

But after an 86% rise in norovirus cases in hospital compared with the same week last year, the NHS’s top doctor has told the service to brace for a “quad-demic”. The figures show that there were an average of 756 patients with norovirus in hospital beds each day last week, 1,390 patients with Covid and 142 children in hospital each day with RSV.

And the service is expected to get busier in the coming months. The figures have been published by the NHS as part of its first weekly snapshot of the performance of hospitals in England this winter.

NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “The NHS is busier than it has ever been before heading into winter, with flu and norovirus numbers in hospital rising sharply – and we are still only at the start of December, so we expect pressure to increase and there is a long winter ahead of us.

“For a while there have been warnings of a ‘tripledemic’ of Covid, flu and RSV this winter, but with rising cases of norovirus this could fast become a ‘quad-demic’, so it’s important that if you haven’t had your Covid or flu jab to follow the lead of millions of others and come forward and get protected as soon as possible.