Status: 01/19/2023 08:42 a.m
According to the RKI, the number of flu cases in Germany is falling – the peak of the flu season has probably passed. Overall, the infections are back to the level they were before the corona pandemic.
During the current flu season, the number of infections in respiratory diseases has returned to pre-coronavirus levels for the first time. However, according to the Influenza Working Group of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the peak of the flu wave has now passed.
According to the RKI statistics for the second calendar week of this year, around 3.8 million people nationwide were infected with a respiratory disease. However, most infections are no longer caused by the influenza virus, but by the so-called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which also affects the respiratory tract and can trigger flu-like symptoms.
Fewer doctor visits
The number of visits to the doctor because of a possible respiratory disease has decreased in the past week compared to the first calendar week of the year. Right at the beginning of the year, the number had risen again, which could also be attributed to the end of the Christmas holidays or to visits to the practice being postponed because of the holidays, it said.
In total, around 1,300 people per 100,000 inhabitants consulted a doctor about a respiratory disease last week – nationwide the number was around 1.1 million patients.
More than 500 deaths from influenza
According to the RKI, the current flu season started very early compared to previous years, at the end of October and reached its peak around mid-December. Since then, infections with the influenza virus have been steadily declining.
Since the beginning of the flu epidemic, more than 255,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of flu have been reported to the institute. 558 people died as a result of the infection.