There were 50,100 excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2017-18. This is the highest figures since the winter of 1975-76. These reports come from the Office for National Statistics.
The increase is thought to be down to the flue, the ineffectiveness of the flu vaccine in older people and spells of very cold weather last winter. Most of the deaths were women and the over 85s. There have been similar peaks in excess deaths in previous years but nothing this significant. Excess winter deaths have doubled for men aged 0-65 years between 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Despite more people over 65 getting the flu jab, the vaccine was more effective in younger people and this could explain why it is a greater impact on elderly people.
Over one-third (34.7%) of all excess winter deaths were caused by respiratory diseases.
An extra 6,000 deaths are estimated to have occurred during last winter compared with three years ago. The figures for last year were counted in November and December.
Nick Stripe, head of health analysis and life events at the Office for National Statistics said: “The number of excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2017 to 2018 was the highest recorded since the winter of 1975 to 1976. However, peaks like these are not unusual – we have seen more than eight peaks during the last 40 years. It is likely that last winter’s increase was due to the predominant strain of flu, the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine and below-average winter temperatures”.
More people die in winter than in the summer in England and Wales, this has been the case since 1950s. Lower temperatures in winter are responsible for some deaths. On average, over the last 50 years, the months from December to March have above average mortality levels, and the months from May to October have consistently below average mortality.
Information from the Office for National Statistics
