The seasonal influenza in Croatia is at its peak, and it is expected that the epidemics of similar intensity will last for weeks. There are reports of complication from this severe seasonal illness, the most common of which is pneumonia, and the first flu death has been recorded, reports Jutarnji List on January 3, 2019.
The first victim is a man about 50 years old, who has been proven to have had the virus.
Vladimir Draženović, a virus expert at the National Influenza Centre of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, says that the epidemics intensity is similar to last season, which has been the strongest in the last twenty years.
“According to the data, just in last week, we have proven 120 cases of influenza, which is twice as much as the previous week. Of all the samples we have analysed, 46 percent were positive for the flu. The ‘peak’ of the influenza epidemics is reached when the share crosses the 50 percent threshold, and this is likely to happen this week,” says Draženović.
Unlike last year, when the B-type virus dominated, this year it is only type A which has been identified. About 90% of the cases include the pandemic H1N1 virus (so-called swine flu), and 10% are of H3N2 subtype.
This is good news for 350,000 people who have been vaccinated because the vaccine does not contain one type B strain, so the protection, in this case, is significantly better.
“The fact that we are approaching the climax of the flu does not mean much because the climax is not something which lasts one day. Last year, it lasted with the same intensity for as many as 13 weeks,” says Draženović.
However, the most significant number of sick cases is expected to be recorded in about ten days, when students will return to schools since the virus is spreading considerably faster indoors.
That is why it is essential to take precautionary measures, such as washing hands and ventilating rooms. Infected persons must remain at home, both to protect their health and to prevent the further spread of the disease.
More health news can be found in our Lifestyle section.
Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Ivana Krnić).
