Health flu virus continues to spread

Influenza virus continues to spread

02/16/2015

Thousands of people in Bavaria have been infected with influenza viruses. The flu epidemic seems to be more serious this year. Even vaccinated people are not safe from illness. Physicians hope now for relaxation in the carnival holidays.

Thousands of people have fallen ill since the beginning of February
It starts with a fever and a dry, irritating cough, soon the patients will experience muscle and headaches. Above all, the influenza flu is highly contagious. As reported by the news agency dpa, thousands of people have been suffering from it in Bavaria since the beginning of February. The number of patients increases from week to week. According to the information, especially Eastern Bavaria, the southern Upper Bavaria and the big cities are affected. The Bavarian health authorities have registered 2,709 influenza cases since the beginning of the year. That's 2,214 more than a year ago. However, health experts assume a high number of unreported cases because not all patients go to the doctor and even there not all patients with influenza symptoms are tested.

Infection belt runs from Brandenburg to Bavaria
Bavaria is divided into two parts, as a glance at an overview map of the Berlin Robert Koch Institute (RKI) makes clear. Currently, the regions of Hof, Ostbayern and southern Upper Bavaria are the focus of influenza infections. According to findings of the RKI the regions with strongly increased influenza activity belong to an infection belt, which runs from Brandenburg over Saxonia and the eastern Thuringia to Upper Bavaria. In large parts of Franconia and Swabia, however, the Federal Institute has only detected moderately increased influenza numbers.

Carnival holidays should help
The findings of the RKI coincide with the current experience of the physician Robert Brey, who heads the health department in the district of Amberg-Sulzbach in the east of Bavaria. There, 150 influenza cases were detected in the first six weeks. „But that's just the tip of the iceberg“, says Brey. He estimates that more than 1,000 people in the county have influenza. The doctor now hopes for a reassurance of the situation during the carnival holidays. In Munich, 850 influenza cases were registered in the first five weeks. At the same time, it had been just 125 a year ago. „The flu curve rises very clearly“, said the spokeswoman at the Munich health department, Katrin Zettler. The flu is obviously a big city problem. The State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) states: „Where many people come together, the risk of infection is greater.“

Large proportion of serious diseases
The Greater Nuremberg is also severely affected. According to the chief physician Heinz-Michael Just patients, patients with suspected influenza are now being tested around the clock at the Institute for Clinical Hygiene and Medical Microbiology of the Nuremberg Clinic. „Our doctors are also there at night to test and evaluate“, so the institute boss. 55 percent of all tests are said to be positive. „Last year it was only 15 percent.“ In addition, the proportion of serious illnesses in the influenza patients this year is very large. As several doctors report, other than older, especially older people are affected.

Particularly treacherous virus variant
The physicians agree that Germany is affected this year by a particularly treacherous variant of the influenza virus. Even vaccinated patients can not be safe from influenza. The cocktail of the flu vaccine administered last fall also contains the current major H3N2 virus. However, according to guesses of the LGL, this has changed genetically in recent months. The experts speak of one „Genetic drift“. The head of the Amberger district health department, Robert Brey, thinks it is quite a bit „bad luck“, that just that virus, which was already accompanied in previous years with severe disease processes, now the vaccine is poorly mapped.

Prevent diseases with a strong immune system
Despite reports that the vaccine is unlikely to be effective, some health professionals are calling for the flu vaccine. For example, the RKIM people from risk groups, such as chronic patients with basic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma or cardiovascular diseases, seniors or medical staff, advise themselves to be vaccinated. To prevent the flu and the unpleasant consequences such as fever, cough and body aches, experts recommend to pay attention to good hand hygiene and strengthen the immune system. In addition, you should sneeze into a tissue or in the elbow bows and not in the hand. (Ad)