Flu, Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have arrived in Cyprus, with GPs treating patients with clear symptoms almost daily as infections spread earlier than usual.
Doctors across Cyprus are finding that flu arrived nearly a month earlier than normal this year, whilst they recorded relatively high Covid-19 cases last week, according to the Cyprus Association of General Practitioners.
Paediatricians have also begun detecting RSV cases in children, though the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control noted the virus appeared a week later this year compared to last.
Cyprus typically sees the first mass flu cases after 10 December, but this year they started in mid-November alongside increased coronavirus activity, said Mary Avraamidou, president of the Cyprus Association of General Practitioners.
Authorities do not officially know yet whether the K subvariant of flu is circulating in Cyprus, but it appears to be spreading rapidly across Europe and is very likely present here too, Avraamidou said.
Vaccines may not provide 100% protection, but they certainly guard against severe symptoms and hospitalisation, especially for people in vulnerable population groups, she said.
The picture among children mirrors that of adults, with particular focus on RSV, which affected hundreds of children last year, several of whom required hospitalisation due to severe symptoms.
The ECDC said in its report yesterday that flu detections are rising rapidly, which is unusually early compared to previous seasons. RSV circulation is low but increasing slowly.
This year’s flu season has started three to four weeks earlier than the previous two years, with circulation highest among children aged 5-14, the ECDC said.
Early increases in hospitalisations are appearing in some countries, affecting all age groups but mainly adults aged 65 and over.
For RSV, increases are visible in both primary care data and hospital surveillance data from some countries, with children under five mainly affected, the centre said.
In the EU and Cyprus, authorities are stressing the need for vaccination, especially for people in vulnerable population groups, despite infections already spreading.
For flu, the recommendation covers all people over 60 and those in vulnerable groups, such as chronic patients and immunosuppressed individuals, Avraamidou said.
However, authorities are also vaccinating any other citizen who wishes it, she added. The more citizens get vaccinated, the greater the protection for everyone.
