Seasonal flu is sweeping across Greece where hospitals and health authorities on alert. Health experts urge citizens to vaccinations.
817 new admissions of patients with flu to hospitals in the last week, that is the second week of 2026. To compare 722 admission in the week before.
8 people died of flu in the second week of January and 6 due to Covid-19,
The upward trend has been observed since the end of 2025.
Increase of serious cases
Serious cases are a cause for concern, as in the same week there were 15 new admissions to Intensive Care Units due to laboratory-confirmed influenza, as well as 8 new deaths.
Together with retrospective statements from previous weeks, the total tally since the beginning of the surveillance period (week 40/2025 to 02/2026) amounts to 45 serious cases with hospitalization in ICU and 15 deaths.
Influenza type A dominant
Laboratory data show that influenza type A dominates almost exclusively. Of the 407 positive samples identified in a total of 2,547 samples, 406 were type A. Of the strains further analyzed, most belonged to the subtype A(H3), while A(H1)pdm09 also remains significant.
A complementary picture is provided by urban wastewater, where the viral load of influenza type A remains high, although it has decreased compared to the previous week. Decreases were recorded in large cities such as Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras, while an increase was noted in Chania.
Flu wave sweeping across Greece
The flu wave sweeping the entire country is intensifying day by day, even though the weather has been relative mild, so far. Although temperatures for the season remain relatively high, the flu virus is spreading from one end of the country to the other, while admissions to hospitals have shown increasing trends in recent days.
The National Institute of Public Health announced nearly 817 new admissions to hospitals in the last week, which proves that the wave continues to spread.
The severity of the wave is also demonstrated by the deaths recorded by the National Institute of Public Health in the last week: according to the official report of the Organization, 8 deaths of patients from influenza and 6 deaths from CoViD were recorded.
Authorities urge citizens to vaccines
Experts point out that especially vulnerable groups of the population should still get the flu vaccine, as the virus is expected to sweep the country at least until early March.
Although the vaccine takes about 2 to 3 weeks to activate, scientists believe it is important to get it now in order to have the appropriate protection.
However, what seems to worry the health authorities is that a large part of the population has not been vaccinated against the influenza virus, mainly because the weather was good until December, which seems to have reassured vulnerable groups who are at greater risk of severe illness.
According to official records, 2.7 million citizens have been vaccinated to date, a significant number, but as the Ministry of Health points out, it must be further increased, especially in vulnerable groups such as people over 60 years old, children up to 5 years old and people with chronic diseases.
The upward trend in admissions to public hospitals due to influenza and other respiratory infections also seems to concern the Health Ministry as it is estimated that in the coming weeks there will be pressure on the National Health System from the serious influenza cases that are likely to be recorded.
PS It is interesting that despite “the concern” of health authorities there is no such thing as instructions to the public for wearing masks in closed spaces and/or keep sick children at home and don’t send them to school.
