It’s the most unpleasant comeback this winter: the flu is back.
After the relatively mild flu seasons in 2020/21 and 2021/22, benefiting from the corona protection measures, the number of infections rose massively once more this year. Above all, influenza, i.e. the real flu, poses a high health risk and can also be fatal for risk groups.
Between November 2022 and January 2023 there were 22,650 cases of influenza in Austria. In November and December, around 400 patients had to be treated in hospital for flu. That is seven times as many as in 2019 – i.e. before the pandemic. Between November and January, more than 700,000 people were on sick leave due to a flu-like infection.
Symptoms range from fever, body aches and sore throats, to coughing and last up to 14 days in the case of influenza. It can take several weeks for the sick to fully recover. A flu vaccination offers effective protection once morest the flu – especially this year, because the virus strains of the flu vaccine selected by the WHO cover the currently circulating influenza viruses very well. Regular hand washing and wearing an FFP2 mask when many people meet also protect once morest infection.
The flu and flu-like infections usually begin very similarly and differ mainly in the duration and severity of the course of the disease. In the case of a flu-like infection, it takes up to seven days in total for all symptoms to subside.
Comparison of sick leave days
ÖGK insured persons were on sick leave for a total of 3.6 million days in January 2023. That is 1.4 million fewer days than in January 2022. In the record year 2017, more than 5.8 million days of sick leave were recorded in the first month. This was partly due to a particularly strong wave of influenza. “Whether during the pandemic or a flu epidemic, we make sure that our policyholders are always well looked following so that they can get well once more as quickly as possible. Health is our top priority,” says ÖGK General Director Bernhard Wurzer.
Four million days of sick leave in Austria
There were almost four million days of sick leave in Austria this winter due to flu or a flu-like infection, and employees were on sick leave for 760,138 days due to corona disease.
A total of 57 million days of sick leave were recorded in 2022. The most common reasons for sick leave are the common cold, diarrhea and viral diseases or diseases of the spine and back.
Austrians needed almost 10 sick days on average in 2022. Women and men call in sick with 9.7 (women) to 9.66 (men) regarding the same number of days per year.
