Almost 24,000 People Diagnosed with Flu-Like Illnesses

Close to 24,000 people visited the doctor with flu-like symptoms last week, according to reports from doctors participating in the surveillance service, the National Public Health Center (NNK) said in its weekly report on Thursday.

It said that in the third week of the year, 185,400 people went to the doctor with symptoms of acute respiratory infections, of whom 23,800 were diagnosed with influenza-like illness (some 25% more than in the first week of the year).

35% of patients were children and 31.1% were adults aged 15-34. In the 35-59 age group, 23.1% of patients were in the 35-59 age group, and 10.8% were over 60 years old.

From January 16 to 22, the number of people visiting a doctor with flu symptoms increased in ten administrative areas, decreased in six and remained unchanged in four areas compared to the previous week. The highest numbers of patients were in Győr-Moson-Sopron and Békés counties, and the lowest in Vas and Bács-Kiskun counties.

Last week, 208 patients sent respiratory samples to the NNK laboratory. Of the 134 samples sent in by doctors, thirty patients were diagnosed with one type of influenza, thirteen with coronavirus and thirteen with respiratory giant cell virus (RSV).

They added that one report of a cluster of influenza-like illnesses was received from a kindergarten in Komárom-Esztergom County, where RSV was confirmed in all three samples.

They also reported that 211 people were hospitalized last week for severe acute respiratory infections, 38 of whom were admitted to intensive care. Of the 211 patients requiring hospitalization, 43.6% were aged two years or younger and 32.2% were aged 60 years or older.

Of those admitted to hospital, 39 patients were confirmed to have RSV, 38 to have SARS-CoV-2 and 10 to have influenza A virus. Of the RSV-positive patients, 74.4% were aged two years or younger, and 84.2% of the coronavirus-infected patients were aged 60 years or older. 60% of the patients with the flu were in the 0-5 age group, the release said.