Tissues, lozenges and nasal sprays are in high demand right now: Even though it is summer, many people are ill. Which pathogens are to blame.
In millions of households, people are sniffling and coughing right now – despite it being summer. According to calculations by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the number of acute respiratory diseases in Germany in recent weeks has been higher than ever before at this time of year. This refers to the period since the launch of the GrippeWeb web portal in 2011. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a summer wave of corona is currently sweeping through Europe.
At GrippeWeb, citizens can report directly whether they had a respiratory illness in the previous week. It is not necessary to record which pathogen caused the cold or flu. According to the RKI, a total of around 3.3 million acute respiratory illnesses were calculated in Germany for the week from July 29 to August 4.
The number of estimated new infections has fallen slightly since the previous week. But overall, according to GrippeWeb, there has only been a relatively small decline in respiratory infections since the winter. In previous years, however, things were different: in the warmer months, far fewer people usually had coughs, colds, sore throats and fevers.
The RKI has little data on which viruses cause the symptoms. Rhinoviruses and coronaviruses were mainly found in the samples. Influenza and RS viruses therefore do not play a role at present.
The WHO, on the other hand, has data from all over Europe – which leads them to speak of a “summer wave of Covid-19”. In the past two months, more and more people with Corona have gone to doctors’ offices or pharmacies: the percentage of patients with respiratory diseases who have Corona has increased fivefold in that period.
“Although the absolute number of cases is lower than during the winter wave,” writes the WHO, people are still being admitted to hospitals because of Corona. In Germany, the number of severe acute respiratory infections is at a low level.
But why are so many people getting sick with Corona? This could be due to mass events such as large sports tournaments and music festivals, says the WHO. There is also less competition from other diseases, such as the flu. Corona circulates all year round – so further waves are to be expected in the future.
“The booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine remains a highly effective way to reduce hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients,” the WHO reminds. Find out who should get vaccinated against Corona here.
Doctors’ offices can currently order the newly adapted corona vaccine, and the currently adapted flu vaccine usually arrives in September.
