Very high rates of respiratory diseases in Germany during the summer season
Millions of households are currently sniffling and coughing - even in the summer. Calculations by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) show that the number of acute respiratory infections in recent weeks has been higher than ever before at this time of year, since the launch of the GrippeWeb portal in 2011.
Citizens can report directly on GrippeWeb if they had a respiratory infection in the previous week. According to the RKI, around 3.3 million acute respiratory infections were estimated in the population for the week from 29 July to 4 August.
Although the number of estimated new infections has decreased slightly compared to the previous week, overall, GrippeWeb shows only a relatively small decrease in respiratory infections since winter. In previous years, there were usually many fewer people with coughs, colds, and sore throats during the warm months.
According to the RKI, rhinoviruses and coronaviruses are mainly responsible. Coronaviruses were mainly detected in patients over 15 years old, while rhinoviruses were found in almost all age groups. Covid-19 was mainly detected in older people with severe acute respiratory infections, especially those over 80. Influenza and RS viruses are currently not playing a role. The number of severe acute respiratory infections is at a low level.
The RKI states that the summer holidays can have an impact on both infections and surveillance systems.
Despite the summer season, the symptoms of sneezing and throat irritation remain quite prevalent, with the RKI reporting a 'very high' number of acute respiratory infections recently.
The estimated number of acute respiratory infections in the last week was 'very high', with over 3 million cases reported by the RKI, even surpassing previous records since 2011.
