Cases of norovirus in the second half of 2019 are almost a quarter higher compared to the average for the same period over the last five years, official figures show.
There were 2,914 cases of norovirus confirmed in laboratories from July to the week ending December 22, Public Health England (PHE) said in its weekly winter update.
This is 24% higher than the average for the same period from 2014 to 2019 - 2,346 reports.
While reports in the week ending December 22 dropped compared to the previous week, overall numbers for the fortnight were also 24% higher than the average for the same period over the last five years.
PHE said the drop in reports was likely due to the holiday period.
Nick Phin, PHE's national infection service deputy director, said: "While case numbers of norovirus have reduced in recent weeks, they are still at levels higher than we would expect to see at this time of year and it is likely there have been delays in reporting cases due to the holiday period."
Since July, there have been 138 hospital outbreaks, PHE said. Some 126 of these caused ward or bay closures and 94 were confirmed in labs as norovirus.
Norovirus, also known as the "winter vomiting bug", occurs predominantly over the winter but there are instances throughout the year.
Symptoms, which come on rapidly, include vomiting and diarrhoea, and can leave people feeling weak.
The PHE data also shows the hospitalisation rate from flu remains at "moderate intensity levels", with a rate of 6.29 per 100,000 in the week to December 29, compared to 7.14 the previous week.
The number of flu cases confirmed in hospitals in the week to December 29 was 464 across 17 trusts, up from 457 the previous week.
There were 176 new admissions to intensive care or high dependency units for flu, down from 187 the previous week.
Over the last two weeks there were 13 deaths in these units where flu was a factor.
PHE said the figures should be interpreted with caution due to delays in reporting during the Christmas period.
