One of the most dangerous times of the year is over. Everything indicates that the flu epidemic is over, as evidenced by the current report of the working group influenza at the Robert Koch Institute.
According to this, only 2618 flu illnesses were registered in the whole of Germany last week. The numbers are well below the levels of the previous weeks, at the beginning of March doctors reported more than 21,000 flu cases within just one week.
In addition, in many samples that doctors sent to the lab, the experts no longer found flu viruses. Instead, they often came across relatively harmless rhinoviruses, which cause more than half of all colds and circulate especially after the end of the flu epidemic.
811 flu deaths in the past few months
Nevertheless, in the next few weeks people will still be able to catch the flu, but only in isolated cases. The flu viruses usually circulate from early October to mid-May. However, the flu epidemic is officially over when flu viruses are found in less than a fifth of samples taken by physicians from patients with influenza symptoms to the lab.
In total, physicians have reported to the Robert Koch Institute since October 177,902 cases in which a flu disease in the laboratory was confirmed. However, the actual number of those affected may be significantly higher, since not all doctors from each potential flu patient samples and send to the lab.
21 percent of the reported patients had to be treated in the hospital. The number of deaths from influenza has risen to 811.
Deaths often due to pneumonia
It is still too early to finally take stock of this winter. However, it is already safe to say that the flu epidemic this year has been significantly easier than last winter. At the time, between the end of December and the beginning of April, 333,567 people were diagnosed with the infection. 1665 patients died as a result of the flu.
The real flu is caused by influenza viruses. It is typical that very suddenly severe symptoms occur, which include high fever, muscle and headache. Cause of deaths are often bacterial pneumonia, which occur as a result of the flu. Rarely, it also comes to viral pneumonia, in which the flu viruses themselves can be triggers.