According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), children are currently diagnosed with flu more often than corona. The institute writes in its weekly report published on Thursday evening that 5- to 14-year-olds are particularly affected. The RKI refers to findings from virological surveillance.
“If symptoms of a new respiratory disease such as a runny nose, sore throat or cough occur, it is strongly recommended – regardless of the vaccination status and also in the case of a negative Covid-19 test result – to avoid contacts and, if necessary, to contact the family doctor’s practice,” it says RKI report.
According to scientific definition, a wave of influenza has not even started in the 2021/22 season, but recently there have been a few more cases of influenza in Germany. The RKI experts speak of slightly increased influenza activity. The influenza working group had reported almost 2000 reported cases for the past week. In the case of influenza, a large number of undetected and unreported cases is assumed.
With regard to the development of the corona pandemic, the RKI states that the seven-day incidence continued to fall last week: by 13.5 percent compared to the week before. Many indicators of hospital admissions and deaths continue to decline. “The infection pressure remains high with around 400,000 Covid-19 cases reported to the RKI within the last week.”
According to the report, the proportion of the omicron subvariant BA.5 in Germany is growing, but so far at a very low level. It was 1.4 percent according to the latest available data, a sample from the week before last. In the weeks before it was 0.5 and 0.3 percent. However, the growth of the omicron variant BA.2, which has been dominant for some time, seems to have stopped, and the value has now fallen slightly to 97.4 percent.
