The flu epidemic is gaining momentum, and Covid-19 is not lagging behind 0 6

An epidemic of flu has begun in Latvia, and the latest monitoring data indicates a sharp increase in morbidity during the 49th week. Flu has been registered in all ten administrative territories under monitoring. The incidence of flu continues to rise across all age groups. According to laboratory data, the proportion of positive samples reached 18.1%, significantly exceeding the epidemic threshold (10%). Last week, the proportion of patients with respiratory infection symptoms in outpatient facilities was 18% of all doctor visits, compared to 22% the previous week, meaning nearly one in five patients sought medical help due to acute respiratory infection. Among them, there was a sharp increase in the number of patients with flu symptoms, with an incidence rate of 344.2 cases per 100,000 population, which is 2.7 times higher than the previous week (125.3 per 100,000). Although flu incidence increased in all age groups, as usual, it was highest among children in the age groups "0-4 years" and "5-14 years" (1267.9 cases and 1057.4 cases per 100,000 children of the respective age groups, respectively).

The highest flu intensity was observed in Jelgava (782.0 per 100,000), Jūrmala (551.1 per 100,000), Riga (424.9 per 100,000), and Gulbene County (424.6 per 100,000).

In hospitals during the 49th week, 234 patients with severe acute respiratory infection were hospitalized, which is a significant increase compared to the previous week (161 patients). Among the hospitalized patients, 46.2% were seniors aged 65 and older, confirming the high risk of severe illness in this population. Ten patients were placed in intensive care.

Testing of patients in hospitals for flu also shows a sharp increase: out of 507 tested patients, flu was confirmed in 127 cases (25% or one in four patients with severe acute respiratory infection), which is significantly higher than the previous week (17.3%). Influenza type A was confirmed in 124 patients, and influenza type B was detected in 3 patients, marking the first cases of type B this season for patients tested in hospitals. In the National Reference Laboratory for Microbiology during the 49th week, out of 332 samples tested, influenza viruses were confirmed in 60 cases (18.1%), compared to 9.1% the previous week.

The proportion of positive COVID-19 samples increased to 6.3% (from 4.8% in the 48th week). Thirty-three COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals, and a total of 66 patients with confirmed infection were treated in hospitals, 37 of whom had a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. Two cases of death among patients with COVID-19 infection were registered. Wastewater monitoring data also indicate that the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA is moderately increasing in several areas.

In Europe, the spread of flu also continued to rise this week — according to the WHO European Region, in 15 countries, flu rates exceed the epidemic threshold, and the dominant virus is A (H3N2), which is widely circulating and increasingly detected, especially among children and the elderly.

More severe cases of flu were more frequently observed in the elderly, people with chronic diseases, pregnant women, and young children. The best protection against severe flu is vaccination — immunity develops within 10-14 days, and it is advisable to get vaccinated even during an epidemic. A list of medical institutions where at-risk patients can receive state-funded flu vaccinations is available on the CPAC website if vaccines are no longer available in the patient's family doctor's practice.