Flu wave 12,000 new cases last week

Flu epidemic: Overall economic damage of up to € 2.2 billion

05/03/2105

The flu continues to grip Germany. By the end of February, 38,455 influenza cases had been reported nationwide. In the past week alone, according to the Working Group on Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), another 12,000 flu patients were added. According to experts, the peak of the current flu epidemic could already be reached.

High point of flu epidemic could be reached
The flu is still spreading - and that nationwide. Most new cases were registered last week in southern Germany (around 4,500 reports) and in eastern Germany (around 4,300 influenza cases). But in all regions there is still increased flu activity. The number of respiratory diseases, on the other hand, did not increase any further, according to experts, which could be a first sign that the current flu epidemic has reached its peak.

In the state health department in the regional council Stuttgart one spoke already of a slow decline. „The worst seems to be over“, said government president Johannes Schmalzl to the news agency „dpa“. In Baden-Württemberg in the past week, 1,889 flu cases were reported. That's the weekly maximum since the beginning of the year.

High overall economic damage from the flu
Economic researchers have calculated a total economic damage from the current flu epidemic of up to 2.2 billion euros. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could decline due to the many cases of illness by 0.3 percent, economic expert Torsten Schmidt from the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) told the news agency. In the calculation, the economists estimated that 20 percent of the population get the flu and five days missing at work. For comparison, in the last major flu epidemic in 2012/2013 even 25 percent of the population were affected. (Ag)

Picture credits: Dieter Schütz