Is flu different this winter? | BBC Newscast

Today, the number of people in hospital with the flu has risen by more than half this week.

Doctors say an earlier start to the flu season plus an unexpected mutation in this years primary strain has led to a lower rate of immunity amongst the general public for this time of year.

BBC health editor Hugh Pym and Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist from the UK Health Security Agency breakdown the data.

Plus, US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in an escalation of the US government’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

The news came as Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado collected her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, appearing despite a travel ban and a threat from the Venezuelan government that she would be labelled as a fugitive

BBC News presenter, Lucy Hockings and Latin America editor for BBC Online Vanessa Buschschlüter explain the situation in Venezuela and the story behind Miss Machado’s journey to Oslo.