Return of the flu:
\n BRUSSELS
\n Influenza has returned to Europe at a faster-than-expected rate this winter after almost disappearing last year, raising concerns about a prolonged \u201ctwindemic\u201d with COVID-19 amid some doubts about the effectiveness of flu vaccines.
\nLockdowns, mask-wearing and social distancing that have become the norm in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic knocked out flu last winter, temporarily eradicating a virus that globally kills about 650,000 a year, according to EU figures.
\nBut that has now changed as countries adopt less strict measures to fight COVID-19 due to widespread vaccination.<\/p>\n
Since mid-December, flu viruses have been circulating in Europe at a higher-than-expected rate, the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control (ECDC) reported this month.<\/p>\n
In December, the number of flu cases in European intensive care units (ICU) rose steadily to peak at 43 in the last week of the year, ECDC and World Health Organization data show.<\/p>\n
That is well below pre-pandemic levels – with weekly flu cases in ICUs peaking at over 400 at the same stage in 2018, for example.<\/p>\n
But it is a big increase on last year, when there was only one flu case in an ICU in the whole of December, data show.<\/p>\n
The return of the virus could be the start of an unusually long flu season that could stretch well into the summer, the ECDC\u2019s top expert on influenza Pasi Penttinen told Reuters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Return of the flu: BRUSSELS Influenza has returned to Europe at a faster-than-expected rate this winter after almost disappearing last year, raising concerns about a prolonged \u201ctwindemic\u201d with COVID-19 amid some doubts about the effectiveness of flu vaccines. Lockdowns, mask-wearing and social distancing that have become the norm in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic knocked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-239400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n