The flu epidemic hit Austria particularly early and particularly hard this year. Most recently, an incidence of 4338 was calculated for the first week of December. That corresponds to 394,000 new infections. In Vienna alone, the number of new infections rose to almost 34,000 in the past week.
In the first week of December, a record 25,200 cases of flu or flu-like illnesses were reported. The Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) recently calculated an incidence of 4338 such infections per 100,000 inhabitants for the whole of Austria.
The previous high was 19,700 new cases
In Vienna, infections have increased significantly in recent weeks from 23,150 to 25,200 to 33,950 (fluctuation range +/-2150). Measured against the data published online since 2009, these are new record values. The previous peak was 19,700 new cases in January 2017. At the time, the massive flu epidemic also caused a sharp increase in the number of deaths to 2,340 per week – a value that was only reached again during the corona pandemic.
This year, the flu wave hit much earlier than usual. Until now, the flu season has reached its peak in January or February, after the Christmas holidays. However, the current situation was expected by doctors after two winters without a flu epidemic and after almost all corona measures had been discontinued.
Influenza infection and “real” flu
The city of Vienna’s flu reporting service calculates the number of new cases based on the number of flu-like infections and “real” flu reported by doctors. AGES collects these and uses them to make a projection for the whole of Austria. This shows a similar rapid increase in flu infections. The most recently calculated incidence is significantly higher than the reported values over the past five years. Due to the lockdowns and other corona measures of the past two years, there is hardly a normal season.
Source: Krone
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