From BZ/dpa
It’s cold season. But the prevalence of respiratory diseases, which the RKI estimated last week, was exceptionally high. How has the situation developed – and what role do flu and corona currently play?
The prevalence of acute respiratory diseases in Germany remains at an elevated level. 7,500 such illnesses per 100,000 inhabitants were recorded for the week from October 30th to November 5th in a report from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Wednesday evening. This is a decrease compared to 8,600 the week before, but more than in the same period in previous years. The RKI speaks of an estimated total of around 6.2 million respiratory diseases in Germany last week (previous week: 7.1 million).
The RKI determines these values using an online portal in which people can provide information about whether they currently have a cold and have been to the doctor because of it. According to its own information, the RKI receives an average of around 8,500 reports per week. The number of participants increased, especially during the peak phase of the pandemic in 2020. There are several other monitoring tools.
The numbers usually fluctuate greatly in autumn and winter. The RKI cites the colds typical of the season and the significant increase in the number of corona infections since the summer as the causes for the current development. However, the values from the surveillance of severe respiratory infections in hospitals remain low, according to the report.
Over 18,000 corona cases, after no flu epidemic
The number of corona cases confirmed in the laboratory and reported to the RKI is now stagnating, as the report also shows. Last week there were almost 18,100, exactly as many as the week before. The actual number of those affected is likely to be much higher because testing is primarily carried out for severe cases.
The flu wave has not yet started; since the beginning of October, a total of just under 900 laboratory-confirmed cases have been recorded in the report for Germany. That’s only about a tenth of the value at this time last year.
In 2022, the influenza wave had already started at the end of October, which was exceptionally early. Experts also attributed this shift to the corona pandemic: Because other respiratory pathogens were also less able to circulate at the time, there were larger catch-up effects.