Constant coughing, a runny nose, elevated temperature, handkerchiefs and hot tea as constant companions – that’s how many people are feeling at the moment. The family doctor Stefanie Karner-Zuser feels this. There is a lot going on in her practice in St. Pölten these days. However, it is often not the corona virus, but a classic flu infection that brings patients to her.
In the last two years, she and her colleagues have hardly seen anyone with a cough, runny nose or sore throat, says the general practitioner. “It’s really interesting and this year we’re all the more aware that all age groups are once more affected by these colds,” says Karner-Zuser, who blames the lack of hygiene measures once morest the corona virus for this development. “The immune system was simply not challenged in the last two years,” says the doctor, in whose practice the phones are currently overheating every day immediately following unlocking.
“Breaker” through masks and distance rules
Virologist Monika Redlberger-Fritz from the Medical University of Vienna shares this opinion. “In the last two years, we’ve worked out a breather, so to speak, through the masks, keeping our distance, etc. Now that’s all gone and as a result these viruses are circulating once more as they did before the coronavirus pandemic,” says the expert. Because the measures not only protected you from Covid-19, but also from all other diseases.
High number of sick leave
In Lower Austria, more than 46,000 people insured by the Austrian health insurance fund were reported sick last week, and the trend is rising. However, most of them are not at home because of the CoV, but because of a flu infection.
It is a colorful mix of viruses that is currently rushing through the population – such as rhinoviruses that cause colds, but summer flu and the corona virus also continue to play a role. The so-called RSV virus is currently circulating particularly strongly. “This causes serious lung diseases in very young children, so that sometimes they even have to go to the hospital to be ventilated there,” explains Redlberger-Fritz. In adults, the infection is usually accompanied by a severe cough, runny nose, body aches and fever.
Around 1.2 million people in Lower Austria are insured with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK). In the previous week, more than 46,000 of them were on sick leave – and the number is increasing from week to week. Most of them are absent due to the flu.
Damaged mucosa: Infection follows infection
Again and once more it happens that someone is on sick leave several times in a row and has to stay in bed. Because shortly following you have gone through an infection – be it the corona virus or another virus – the mucous membrane is often damaged. “That means that the next virus can then immediately put itself on top of it and it can then be the case that one slips from one infection to the next,” says the virologist.
Influenza, i.e. the so-called “real” flu, is also slowly making itself felt in Lower Austria. The laboratory samples arriving at the Medical University of Vienna show more and more infections. “We are already seeing strong influenza activity in France, Scotland and Germany, so it won’t be long before it spills over to us,” predicts Redlberger-Fritz.
Strong flu season expected: vaccination recommended
Precisely because there is a threat of a strong flu epidemic in the coming weeks, the expert advises flu vaccinations – so that as few people as possible are bedridden in winter. “Especially this year it makes a lot of sense, the vaccination works very well. The current strains are covered,” says general practitioner Karner-Zuser.
The vaccination is particularly easy for children, because instead of a syringe there is also a spray for them. The virologist Redlberger-Fritz also appeals to continue to wear a mask – especially if you have a cold yourself and might infect others, for example on public transport.