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While the flu epidemic in Switzerland is subsiding, Covid-19 activity remains at a low level.
Picture: Philip Dulian/dpa
This season, the flu epidemic is stronger than last year. Even though many people are still sick in bed: The Federal Office of Public Health is currently registering a significant drop in case numbers.
The flu epidemic has passed its peak, but Switzerland is still coughing, blowing its nose and lying in bed in some cases. This is also confirmed by the figures from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH): Extrapolated to the population, 66 people per 100,000 inhabitants consulted a doctor last week due to flu-like illnesses.
Flu-like illnesses are caused by influenza as well as other circulating viruses such as rhinoviruses.
This year's peak was recorded by the FOPH in the first week of February: between February 3 and 9, around 294 people per 100,000 inhabitants received medical treatment.
Since then, both the influenza viral load in wastewater and the mandatory laboratory reports and influenza cases in the Sentinella reporting system have been falling continuously.
With the arrival of spring, the flu season is also mostly over. A pleasing fact, especially as the winter of 2024/2025was a tough one: "Overall, the data from the various reporting systems indicate that the current flu wave is larger than last season and comparable to the 2022/2023 season," writes the FOPH in response to a blue News inquiry.
However, the recorded case numbers are influenced by the actual circulation of the influenza viruses and by testing behavior. For example, only some of the people who fall ill with the flu visit a doctor or hospital and are tested there.
However, the long-term trend in flu numbers is not worrying: "Even before the pandemic, there were larger and smaller waves of flu," writes the FOPH.
The extent is mainly determined by the level of immunity in the population at the beginning of the season as well as other factors such as contact behavior, the genetic variation of the circulating influenza viruses or meteorological conditions.
While the flu epidemic is subsiding, Covid-19 activity remains at a low level according to the FOPH. The globally emerging Sars-CoV-2 variant LP.8.1 has also been detected in Swiss wastewater.
