Covid-19 infections, intubations and flu cases rise in week of Dec. 25-31, EODY says

Viral infections of the respiratory tract registered another hike in the last week of the year, according to the National Public Health Organization (EODY) on Thursday.

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In its weekly report, EODY said that Covid-19 in particular registered high dispersal between December 25-31, while hospitalizations jumped by 44% since last week (1,818 patients) and are higher than the same week in 2022. Also on the rise are intubations of people infected with Covid-19, while influenza (flu) cases also rose and registered 3 deaths.

In terms of Covid-19, 57 individuals died. Their median age was 84 years (range: 67-102 years). The number of death dropped from the median weekly death rate in the last four months and was lower than the number of deaths in the same week in 2022.

The number for new intubations was higher than the median weekly for the last four weeks and lower than the number of intubations in the comparable week (Dec. 25-31) in 2022. The number of patients currently intubated total 70.

The most frequent sub-variation of BA.2 was EG.5 (40%), followed by BA.2.86 (38%) and XBB.1.5 (14%). Greece has identified 179 strains of JN.1 (a sub-variation of BA.2.86), with samples collected from October 3 to December 8.

Viral loads in urban waste have shown a rise in circulation for SARS-CoV-2 in 6 of 9 areas where samples were taken.

Flu

Positivity for the flu (Sentinel network) remains over 10% and shows a rising trend. A total of 8 serious cases were registered, with hospitalization in intensive care units, while 3 deaths from the flu were confirmed by laboratories. A total of 29 people have been hospitalized in ICUs since the start of the flu season, and 8 deaths confirmed.

From the data, a total of 113 positive samples for flu (9%) have been detected. Of the 112 samples checked, 110 belong to type A, and 2 to type B. Of 93 type A flu examined, 15 (16%) are of the sub-type A(H3) and 78 (84%) of the sub-type A(H1)pdm09.

In addition, the number of flu-like illnesses also rose in Dec. 25-31 per 1,000 visits, compared to the previous week. The positivity of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Sentinel samples also rose compared to the previous week.