As of: February 8, 2024, 5:32 p.m
By: Steffen Maas
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The flu wave is sweeping across Lower Saxony and Bremen and is causing high levels of sickness - and a revival of masks.
The RKI continues to recommend vaccination.
Hanover/Bremen – Coughing, sniffling, masks on buses and trains: After the big Corona upheaval subsided at the end of last year, the next wave of illness is now rolling across Lower Saxony and Bremen.
Many people become infected with the influenza virus and are currently lying flat with the flu.
Hospitals are responding with mask requirements and recommendations, and a health expert is emphasizing a return to normality, at least at the time of the flu epidemic.
Flu wave in Lower Saxony and Bremen: Influenza virus causes high levels of sickness
The Lower Saxony State Health Office reports “high activity” in the current weekly report on “acute respiratory diseases” (ARE) – i.e. respiratory infections.
Most people who are currently in bed with a cough, runny nose or sore throat have been struck down by the influenza virus.
At the end of January, the health authority officially announced the flu wave when the so-called influenza positive rate exceeded 20 percent.
Last week it was 40 percent – “still very high,” reports the authority.
Light red, red, dark red: The number of cases of flu infections in Lower Saxony and Bremen is currently high.
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa/Lower Saxony State Health Office/Screenshot/Montage
According to the report, the state health department records the “high activity” of respiratory diseases in the Verden district, and “very high activity” in Nienburg and Schaumburg, among others.
But: Compared to the previous week, the numbers are down slightly.
This can also be seen in the number of sick days reported to the state office: in 19.5 percent of cases, a respiratory illness is responsible for the absence (previous week: 20.7 percent) - that is “still above the value of the previous season at this time (16.8 percent).”
This corresponds to the assessment of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI): The infection rate is “determined, as in the previous weeks, by the increasing number of influenza illnesses and high RSV activity,” according to the weekly report for the same period.
According to the RKI, the flu illnesses affect all age groups and lead to a “high number of doctor visits and hospitalizations”.
Hospitals in Bremen recommend masks - mandatory in sensitive departments
That's why people have become even more cautious right there, in doctors' offices and clinics.
The Bremen hospitals, whose current rules are listed by the
Weser-Kurier
, are representative of this .
All facilities are currently recommending wearing a mask throughout the building.
There is a partial obligation, especially in the specialist departments in which immunocompromised patients stay.
In the Diako Hospital in the Gröpelingen district, these include hematology, internal oncology and the intensive care unit.
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Of course, the hospitals are sensitized and are particularly prepared to keep an eye on developments.
“With regard to influenza, numbers are collected daily and the situation is monitored so that we can react quickly if influenza numbers increase,” explains the spokesman for the St. Joseph Foundation in Schwachhausen to the Weser-Kurier.
The staff failure rate there is at a high level.
Flu in the “old rhythm” – No Corona comeback in sight
The health experts in Lower Saxony will also be following the flu activity closely.
The president of the laboratory of the Lower Saxony State Health Office (NLGA) is already noting a return to normality - given the punctuality of the wave.
“The flu wave is now taking place again at a time similar to that of the time before the corona pandemic, so we have returned to the old rhythm,” says Dr.
Fabian Feil.
Should I get a flu shot now?
The Standing Vaccination Commission recommends the influenza vaccination to all people over 60, pregnant women and people with an increased health risk due to an underlying illness.
However, anyone who has the vaccination calendar in mind will know that the best time for a vaccination is actually before the flu epidemic - "since the full protective effect only kicks in about two weeks after the vaccination," as Lower Saxony's Health Minister Dr.
Andreas Philippi knows.
But, Stiko and RKI make this clear: “If the vaccination is missed during these months, it may still make sense to get the vaccination at the beginning or during the course of the flu wave.
After all, it is never possible to predict exactly how long an influenza wave will last.
In the 2022/2023 season, for example, there was a second flu wave in March due to a different virus variant.”
When it comes to Corona, there is at least some good news: the proportion of Covid diseases in respiratory infections is only around five percent in both the nationwide surveys by the RKI and in the Lower Saxony surveys.
Finally, those interested who have always been keenly following the spread of the coronavirus subtypes will get their money's worth: The Pirola offshoot JN.1 is dominant in Lower Saxony and is responsible for 90 to 100 percent of new infections.