Economy 20 December 2024, 7:50pm

Share of Hungarians in hospital with influenza rises further

Portfolio

The number of Hungarians seeking medical help with acute respiratory infections (ARI), including those with influenza-like symptoms has risen further on the 50th week of 2024. In terms of the number of ARI patients per 100,000 population, the current number of infections is still the second highest of the past 13 respiratory seasons.

On the 50th week of 2024 (9-15 December), 231,600 people sought medical help with acute respiratory infections, including 26,900 people (+15% w/w) with flu-like symptoms, according to data released by the National Centre for Public Health and Pharmacy (NNGYK) on Thursday.

Note that both the 43rd and 44th weeks had only four working days due to national holidays, hence the fewer number of cases in the statistics and the dips in the graphs.

A short-term comparison (for the last three seasons of respiratory illnesses) shows that the number of patients with ARI was lower than in the previous two respiratory seasons, while the number of people seeking medical help with flu-like symptoms was slightly higher a year ago, but lower two years ago.

The share of flu-like symptoms in ARI was up at 11.6% from 10.9%, but was lower than a year earlier (13.6%), while exceeding the 2022/23 figure (9.0%).

We also have data for ARIs and flu-like symptoms per 100,000 population, although a long-term data series is available only for the latter.

in terms of ari, the situation is better than in the previous two respiratory seasons, while in terms of flu-like symptoms per 100,000 population was worse only once, in 2023/24.

Last week, the ARI figure per 100,000 population was oddly exactly the week before, just as in the case of all ARI patients seeking medical help.

A total of 248 samples were tested on the 50th week (down from 260 a week earlier and 301 a fortnight ago), of which 21 came back COVID-19 positive (the same as on the 49th week), i.e. they detected coronavirus in 8.5% of the samples, which compares with 41.0% a year ago when 327 samples were tested, of which 134 showed the presence of SARS-CoV-2.

The share of influenza in the tested samples is a tad above the previous two years' respective prints, while that of RSV remains lower.

As the chart below attests, SARS-CoV-2 continues to be the main pathogen in samples, with 433 positive tests (15.7% of the 2,760 samples tested), followed by rhinovirus (37), influenza (73), RSV (7) and parainfluenza (5).

While the COVID-19 positive rate has been dropping, the flu positivity rate has started to pick up, which was not unexpected, and is already at 13.7%, beating the Covid positivity rate of 8.5%.

142 people with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) were hospitalised on the 50th week, of whom 16 (or 11.3%) required intensive care. The respective figures for the 50th week of 2023 were 339 people in hospital, and 46 (13.6%) in ICUs.

Further breakdown shows that 21 people (14.8% of SARI patients) were hospitalised with coronavirus infection, the same as a week earlier and well below 247 (72.9%) a year earlier.

Already 13 people in hospital with SARI tested positive for influenza, which corresponds to 9.2% of all SARI patients. This compares with only 2 influenza patients (0.6% of all SARI patients) in hospital on the 50th week of 2023.

Of the 142 people in hospital with SARI, 36 (25.4%) were aged two or younger, while 52 (36.6%) were 60 and above.

Also, 19 (90.5%) of the 21 COVID-19 patients were over 60 years of age, up from 12 (57.1%) a week earlier.

A year ago, of the 339 people in hospital with SARI, 74 (21.8%) were aged two or younger, while 204 (60.2%) were 60 or older. Also, 178 (72.1%) of the 247 COVID-19 patients were over 60 years of age.

The age breakdown of people seeking medical help with ARI and flu-like symptoms are shown below.

The majority of ARI patients belonged in the 0-14 age group throughout the 'flu season' last year, while the share of people going to the doctor with flu-like symptoms was the highest in the 15-34 age group up to the 2nd week of this year when the youngest were in majority until the 40th week bar a couple of weeks towards the end. You fund a heat map in our previous article here.

For the first time in the current respiratory season the number and share of children up to 14 years of age was higher among people with flu-like symptoms than the number and share of those in the 15-34 age group.

Suspected pertussis cases jump

We have whooping cough statistics only up to the 49th week, and while these have showed that the pertussis season was winding down, the number of suspected cases jumped on the 49th week to 50 from 34 on the 48th week and from 29 on the 47th. The microbiological tests performed confirmed the clinical diagnosis in 11 cases. Diagnostic tests are still ongoing in the remaining patients.

The total number of cases rose to 1,278, which is a record. Well, look at this chart.

This is how the epidemic went down, (er, up) this year:

Portfolio has previously reported in several articles that the most vulnerable group is infants. They were also the group with the highest incidence on the 49th week. In the first 49 weeks of this year, 289 of all suspected cases, almost one in four, were infants, but the prevalence in the 40-49 age group is also rather high, and over 10% of the cases were in the 60+ age group.

If we look at a wider age group of children between 0 and 14 years of age, they make up 42.2% of all cases this year (539 in total), while up to 19 years the share is 51.6% (659 cases).