Swine flu is back RKI recommends vaccination

The swine flu is back: authorities recommend vaccination. However, there is no reason to panic

01/06/2011

The media response to the first deaths from the H1N1 pathogen after the official end of the swine flu pandemic in Germany has been going on for days. However, according to the health authorities, the return of the H1N1 virus is not a cause for panic, as it was foreseeable that the swine flu would recur in the seasonal flu season. Those who are vaccinated against influenza, must not worry about the swine flu, as this year's vaccine also provides protection against the H1N1 pathogens.

Seasonal flu episode on the way to peak
The seasonal flu epidemic is on its way to its peak this year. In many large cities, such as Hamburg, the proportion of influenza patients among primary care physicians is already up to 30 percent. The experts of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) expect the peak of this year's flu epidemic towards the end of January / beginning of February. Until then, continue to be expected with a drastic increase in diseases. In Hamburg, the waiting rooms of doctors' offices are already completely overcrowded and similar increases in influenza patients are reported from Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. However, according to the experts from the RKI, this is a recurring phenomenon every year in the context of the seasonal flu epidemic. Overall, the current spread of influenza is still relatively modest. For uncertainty in the population worry about the proliferation of swine flu, but this was unfounded, since it was always expected to return the swine flu, emphasized the influenza specialist of the RKI, Walter Haas.

Swine flu displaces the common influenza
In the wake of the swine flu pandemic, H1N1 viruses displaced much of the common influenza virus, so it's not surprising that swine flu has returned as seasonal flu, according to RKI experts. The reason for the panic similar to the first appearance of H1N1 viruses in 2009, there is not, the experts continue. Although the same health risk continues to apply to all influenza patients as in previous years, a particular health threat does not stem from the swine flu, emphasized the scientists of the RKI. Only for chronically ill and pregnant women are the H1N1 pathogens a particular threat, so that for these groups by the RKI an explicit vaccination recommendation was made. In general, pandemic viruses often displace seasonal pathogens - as in the case of swine flu - and thus become common, regularly recurring influenza viruses. Therefore, it would be unsurprising to see unvaccinated people die again as a result of H1N1 infection this year, the experts of the RKI explained.

Three quarters of patients carry H1N1 pathogens
The RKI influenza weekly report from calendar weeks 51 and 52 of 2010 shows that swine flu is already well on the way to becoming a seasonal flu epidemic. According to the RKI, 77 percent of the samples taken by influenza patients in Germany between the beginning of October and the end of December include the H1N1 virus, the causative agent of swine flu. By contrast, the influenza viruses H3N2, which were previously common, have only been detected in three percent of the samples and influenza B virus in about 20 percent, said the flu specialist of the RKI, Walter Haas. Thus dominate the swine influenza virus in Germany, which is also an expression of the development of the seasonal flu, so the experts of the RKI on. This development is also similar throughout Europe. For example, in two-thirds of the influenza samples analyzed, H1N1 pathogens were found throughout Europe and in 30 percent influenza B, according to the RKI.

Every year strong fluctuations in flu infections
According to the RKI, the number of deaths from the annual influenza waves can vary considerably depending on the influenza virus. The officially reported two deaths, however, are extremely low, although the peak of this year's flu season is still imminent. According to the RKI, the weakest flu epidemics of the past decade have caused about 100 deaths, the strongest ones up to 15,500. How the conclusion after this year's influenza season will turn out remains to be seen. So far, the influenza new infections, especially in the federal states of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland are significantly increased, but the flu epidemic still move in a manageable framework, so the RKI. The number of flu victims directly caused by the swine flu, however, can no longer be determined as clearly in the future as before, since with the official end of the pandemic, the swine flu is no longer notifiable from this year. Thus, no accurate number of infected and dead in connection with the swine flu are more determined and the dark figure is likely to be significantly higher than the previously officially mentioned two deaths, according to the experts of the RKI.

Health authorities repeat their vaccination recommendation
Both the RKI and the Federal Government's Permanent Immunization Commission (STIKO) have a clear recommendation for groups such as the chronically ill with asthma, COPD, heart disease, diabetes or other chronic conditions at any age, persons over the age of 60, pregnant women and medical staff output. The two health authorities also pointed out that the vaccine can still be made up for now, although numerous influenza cases are already reported. Although it takes about two weeks until the flu vaccine reliable protection is built, but the activity of influenza viruses is currently very low and the peak of the seasonal flu wave is expected in three to four weeks anyway, stressed the experts of the STIKO and of the RKI. The risk of getting infected before the vaccine was established is also relatively low, said RKI influenza expert Walter Haas. This year's flu vaccine not only provides protection against the swine flu but is directed against all three currently circulating influenza strains. (Fp)

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Picture: Ernst Rose