Flu 2019/2020 current: Over 119,000 confirmed influenza cases

2020-03-06T15:28:34.090Z

Nobody wants to catch a flu infection - even less the real flu. In the following overview we provide information about the current flu cases across Germany.

The Robert Koch Institute publishes a flu report every week.
The flu wave began in Germany in the second calendar week of 2020.
From the beginning of the flu wave, the influenza numbers usually skyrocket.

In winter it is flu season. More specifically, between the 40th calendar week in early October and the 20th calendar week in mid-May. Then there are perfect conditions in our region for influenza viruses - the pathogens that cause flu. In the past few years, most people were infected with the flu virus from January to the end of March, and there were regular flu waves.

Flu infection and flu: two terms for infectious diseases that are often lumped together. But flu infections are usually harmless, colloquially known for a severe cold. Up to 200 different viruses such as rhinoviruses can be used as triggers. With flu, on the other hand, it is always influenza viruses that cause the highly contagious infectious disease.

Typical symptoms of flu, which can have life-threatening consequences, especially in weakened people:

All of a sudden, patients feel sick.
There is a fever, muscle and / or headache.
Often, a dry cough comes later.

But only around a third of those infected show these symptoms: In another third, the influenza takes a mild course and the last third of the patients shows no symptoms at all , as reported by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

Also read : Influenza 2019: what helps quickly against flu symptoms?

"Working group influenza" reports current flu cases in Germany

The RKI as an independent federal authority for infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases has set up the "Working Group Influenza", which provides weekly updates on the current status. During the winter season, an influenza report appears weekly from the 40th to the 20th calendar week, which can be viewed here.

This is based, among other things, on the numbers of health authorities that run together in the Robert Koch Institute. Influenza, also called "real flu", is one of the notifiable diseases . This means that doctors have to report it to the relevant regional health authority if they have detected influenza viruses in patients or if there are deaths from the disease.

+++ Also on the subject : Flu wave in Weilheim-Schongau: Doctor clearly warns “Dark figure extremely high” *

Influenza report: So far, 202 deaths from virus flu

In the 43rd calendar week of 2019, there were 61 laboratory-confirmed influenza cases in Germany that were sent to the RKI. As of March 6, 2020, there are already 119,280 confirmed cases . 19,819 patients therefore had to be treated in the hospital. Overall, there have been 202 deaths from influenza infections during the 2019/2020 flu season.