Switzerland braces for flu epidemic

FOPH records twice as many cases of flu as a year ago Keystone-SDA

Flu is on the rise in Switzerland with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) announcing 459 laboratory-confirmed cases last week.

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This is almost twice as many as the previous week and more than twice as many as at the same time a year ago.

According to figures published on Wednesday, the FOPH recorded 5.05 cases of flu per 100,000 inhabitants. A year ago, the figure was 2.05 for the same calendar week.

According to the FOPH, however, the indicators do not give a uniform picture. They do, however, suggest that the start of the flu epidemic is imminent.

The FOPH recorded similarly high infection figures in 2022, when the flu wave began relatively early. In 2022/23, the peak was recorded as early as mid-December, whereas in the last two years it was only at the end of January.

At regional level, the values per 100,000 inhabitants were highest last week in Ticino (20.90) and lowest in Zug (0.75).

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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