A leading virologist has said there has been no major outbreak of Australian flu in the UK and its threat is obscuring the real problem facing the NHS, which is underfunding.

Concerns have been raised that an epidemic that hit New Zealand and Australia during the southern hemisphere’s winter could now be affecting the UK, after a sharp rise in flu-related hospitalisations and deaths.

The latest official figures showed that the number of hospitalisations in England almost tripled in a week from 2.33 to 6.82 per 100,000 of the population. There were also 24 flu-related deaths in the last week of 2017, matching the toll from the start of winter up to that week. Influenza-related deaths and hospitalisations are running at double the rate of last year.

Public Health England (PHE) has said spikes can happen at different times and admitted that flu was causing many more problems for the NHS this year than last year.

John Oxford, an emeritus professor of virology at the University of London, previously urged the UK to be “pre-armed” against Australian flu. But Oxford, who has contributed to more than 300 papers on influenza viruses, said it was a mistake to attribute the NHS’s current problems to the Australian variant.

“I don’t get the impression that anything drastic is going on [with respect to flu],” he said. “The problem is there is a lack of investment, there are not enough doctors or nurses, and politicians are trying to blame the situation on influenza. I don’t see it causing all that many problems [at present]. What’s going to happen in the next few weeks is another case. At this moment in time there are no signs it is a great epidemic.”

Explaining his view that the impact of the Australian flu had been overstated, Oxford pointed out that the official figures showed cases were split between different strains.

He was more positive about the impact of the vaccination programme. There has been greater uptake of flu jabs this winter among over-65s, young children and pregnant women, and also among health workers with direct patient contact, although two out of five of this group had not had it by the end of November.

That prompted Sir Bruce Keogh, the national medical director of NHS England, to suggest there should be a discussion for next year about mandatory jabs for frontline NHS staff. He also surged NHS staff who had not yet received the flu jab this winter to ensure they did so.

Professor Paul Cosford, Public Health England’s medical director, said: “As we would expect at this time of year, flu levels have increased this week. Our data shows that more people are visiting GPs with flu symptoms and we are seeing more people admitted to hospitals with the flu.

“The vaccine is the best defence we have against the spread of flu and it isn’t too late to get vaccinated.

“People suffering with flu-like symptoms should catch coughs or sneezes in tissues and bin them immediately, wash their hands regularly with soap and warm water and frequently clean regularly used surfaces to stop the spread of flu. Avoid having unnecessary contact with other people if you or they have symptoms of flu.”