Galery

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The victims of the seasonal flu wave in Greece are already seven, the last among them being a 55-year old man who had not been vaccinated against influenza. The testing made it clear that the man had the pandemic virus A (H1N1) and not the mutant strain A (H3N2), which is not entirely covered by the flu vaccine.

At the same time, according to the Centre for Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases, 16 people with laboratory-confirmed influenza are undergoing treatment in the intensive care wards of various Greek hospitals. The experts at the National Influenza Reference Laboratory and Pasteur Institute in Athens believe that the epidemic will peak between the fifth and seventh week after its inception. This means that, according to their judgments, the flu epidemic will reach its peak in early February and will continue until mid-March.

Indicative of the virus activity is the number of visits to doctors by patients with symptoms similar to those of flu. According to the data of the particular Centre, in the last two weeks of 2014 about 10% of visits to doctors were by patients with influenza-like illness. Today, that rate is 13%.

Even the most conservative estimates mean that, every day, 17,000 Greeks visit their doctors with the following symptoms: aching bones, stuffy or running nose, cough and fever. In December, the number of patients was between 10,000 and 13,000.

According to the data of Pasteur Institute, both influenza viruses A and B are spreading among the population in Greece, but with a different frequency, subtype A (H3N2) from group A being spread to a greater extent and the known pandemic strain A (H1N1pdm09) to a lesser extent.

The majority of flu cases in Greece are due to the strain H3N2. The first of its strains that have been isolated in laboratory conditions have been tested for the presence of mutations in the haemagglutinin gene in them.

In addition, the virus strains isolated this year contain genetic changes that show antigenic derogation, i.e. the tendency of strains to differ from the strains contained in the vaccine.

This leads to reduced effectiveness of the vaccine against the virus and the extent of its effect cannot be foreseen. However, it retains its effectiveness against the influenza viruses A (H1N1) and B.

The vaccine secures partial protection from the mutated virus. Even with its lower effectiveness against the virus A (H3N2) vaccinated patients can avoid the flu, which it causes or can have mild symptoms.

In order to avoid the spread of the virus citizens are urged to frequently wash their hands, avoid staying in rooms full of many people and stay home when they have flu symptoms.

These basic prevention measures must be strictly followed by high-risk groups, in which the flu can cause serious complications. It can cause both mild and severe illness, and lead to death.

Influenza symptoms usually start suddenly and include fever, aching muscles and joints, headache, fatigue, running nose, sore throat and cough (usually dry).