Flu Epidemic In Croatia Is Passing

The flu epidemic in Croatia is passing, and the data of the Croatian National Institute of Public Health counts 102 thousand people infected

For the last few weeks the flu epidemic has been falling off in all counties, so that we can soon expect its end, said Gjenero Margan, head of the epidemic service HZJZ, for the news service Hina.

Even though HZJZ received information about 4,000 new cases of the flu, its peak passed two to three weeks ago, and there is no danger of further spreading, added Gjenero Margan.

This season, the standard strains of the virus type A arrived, in which the Wisconsin H3N2 dominated, whilst New Caledonia H1N1 was somewhat rarer.

Last year the flu arrived quite late, in March. A very small number of people were infected, only 1,500 in Croatia.

700,000 vaccines for this season were ordered, but the turnout for vaccinations was less than expected, so HZJZ estimates from surveys, that around 600,000 people were vaccinated.

The number of vaccinations does not affect the spread of the epidemic, says Gjenero Margan, because we vaccinate our children the least, because the flu usually passes without serious complications.

Older people and the chronically ill are vaccinated the most, to protect them from complications and possible death, added the head of the HZJZ epidemic service.