In Europe, it has been agreed that from the week beginning September 30 onwards, the flu season is considered to have begun. As a result, not only influenza but also other viral upper respiratory diseases will be kept under surveillance. In Estonia, the flu season usually lasts from October to around April or May, explained Pille Märtin, head of the infection control department of West-Tallinn Central Hospital.

"One of the main 'players' is still Covid-19. Unlike other viral upper respiratory viral diseases, Covid-19 did not disappear completely during the summer period. Fortunately, it spread at a relatively low rate during the summer. With the onset of the fall, the spread of Covid-19 has started to gradually increase again and is likely to accelerate further in the coming months," said Märtin.

Rhinoviruses that cause common colds are also now actively spreading in Estonia, Märtin said. "At the West Tallinn Central Hospital we have already seen a few cases of flu. So far, these have been imported cases from abroad. There has been no national flu epidemic yet," she added.

Märtin stressed that now is a good time to think about getting vaccinated against influenza, as this will allow post-vaccine protection to develop before the flu becomes more active. "Protective antibodies take about two weeks to develop from the time of the vaccine," the doctor explained.

Of the patients with viral upper respiratory infections, Märtin said that those infected with the coronavirus are currently the most common. "The average patient requiring hospitalization for viral upper respiratory diseases, or in general, is an elderly person over the age of 65 with comorbidities," she said.

However, Märtin also added that it is not easy to provide a precise number of the people who have been hospitalized with viral upper respiratory infections. Such infections are also not always the direct reason why a person may end up requiring hospital treatment. Sometimes a viral respiratory viral illness can be the result of an exacerbation of a chronic health problem, such as heart disease.

"It is also possible that a person develops an unexpected serious health problem that requires hospitalization, but has a concomitant respiratory viral infection that does not directly require treatment," Märtin explained.

Although it is not possible to provide specific numbers, Märtin said the lab's statistics have shown that in the past week, hospital patients have taken twenty percent more laboratory tests for respiratory infections than they did the week before.

"This suggests that there has been an increase in the number of patients whom doctors suspect have either Covid or another viral respiratory illness," Märtin said.

Young children and the elderly especially vulnerable to flu

According to Pille Märtin, we can expect a fairly normal flu season in Estonia this year. "The southern hemisphere has just come out of winter and we saw two sub-strains of influenza A and one sub-strain of influenza B circulating. There is reason to believe that the northern hemisphere will have a similar flu season to the south," she said.

Children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable, as are the elderly. "We see from the statistics that both children and their grandparents who have been left with sick children end up in hospital," said the doctor.

The flu vaccine may not prevent influenza completely, but it does protect people against a serious form of the illness as well as serious complications including pneumonia, Märtin stressed. "The likelihood of a vaccinated person needing intensive care for influenza is far lower than for an unvaccinated person. Unfortunately, in more severe cases, influenza can also be fatal."

Therefore, Märtin strongly recommends the flu vaccination for all adults as well as children from age  six upwards. "The flu vaccine provides protection against the four most common strains of flu, so it has pretty good protection, regardless of which strains are most prevalent this season."

A milder form of Covid

Covid-19 is still spreading, and Märtin says West-Tallinn Central Hospital sees an average of eight to ten coronavirus-positive patients a week.

"The omicron strain sub-variants of the coronavirus are currently in circulation. Since the introduction of the omicron strain, there has not been a completely new strain in circulation, but the omicron strain continues to mutate gradually, generating sub-variants," said Märtin.

Fortunately, however, the current virus strain rarely causes serious illness, according to Märtin - most people infected with coronavirus do not need hospital treatment. "The more serious cases are in the elderly and people with severe chronic diseases," she said.

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