A doctor's warning after the first flu death this season. “We have 70-80 flu patients every day, maybe even more”

The number of flu cases in Bucharest increased during this period, reaching approximately 80 people who present themselves at the emergency room a day, said Dr. Adrian Marinescu, the manager of the Matei Balş Institute of Infectious Diseases in the capital, for News.ro. “Unfortunately, the population of Romania is not protected by vaccination to a satisfactory extent,” said the doctor.

The manager of the Institute of Infectious Diseases Matei Balş says that, unlike in the usual months, now more and more people suffering from respiratory infections have come to the emergency room.

“At the moment, the presentations have doubled compared to a normal month, we have around 200 in 24 hours, I mean children and adults, half of them are acute respiratory infections, and the flu takes the main place by far. We have reached the point where we have 70-80 patients with the flu every day, maybe even more”, said the doctor.

“It's the flu variant circulating in England, Italy, Spain”

He said that the number of those who need to be hospitalized is also high: “Especially in children, where you have to have a monitoring, it does not necessarily mean that they have severe forms. And in adults, unfortunately, whether they are old or have chronic pain, there are also complications, even severe forms, it is true that critical cases rarely end up in ATI”, the doctor explained to News.ro.

The manager from Matei Balș also said that it is about influenza A, the K variant, “the one we have heard about in recent weeks, as a variant circulating in Europe, through England, Italy, Spain. It was obvious that that variant does not need a passport to cross the border and reach Romania as well”.

He pointed out that this variant does not necessarily have specific characteristics, but the contagiousness is increased

“Unfortunately, the population of Romania is not protected by vaccination to a satisfactory extent, as we would have liked, so that we reach a percentage of 75% of those who have risk factors. The WHO recommends that for people who have risk factors due to age and chronic diseases, you have a minimum protection of 75%, which is far from happening at this moment in Romania”, said Marinescu.

Warnings from the Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Wednesday, December 24 that, during this period, there is an “increased intensity of influenza activity”, with extensive geographical spread of influenza viruses and other respiratory viral infections throughout the country.

In this context, in order to prevent and limit illnesses, the Ministry of Health recommends, in a press release published on Wednesday, December 24, the observance of some measures:

• Presentation to the family doctor at the appearance of respiratory symptoms, in order to establish the therapeutic behavior, the need for isolation at home and, as the case may be, to carry out additional investigations.
• Wearing a protective mask by people with respiratory symptoms, in the situation where it is necessary to move to the community.
• Following cough and sneeze etiquette, including the use of disposable tissues.
• Maintaining rigorous hand hygiene, by frequent washing with soap and water or the use of disinfectant solutions.
• Avoiding crowds, frequent ventilation of closed spaces and use of protective mask in high-risk contexts.
• Continuation of anti-influenza vaccination, with priority for people in the categories at risk: people over 65 years of age; pregnant; immunosuppressed people; people with chronic respiratory or cardiovascular diseases.
• Administration of antiviral anti-influenza treatment, as indicated by the doctor, especially in high-risk individuals, to reduce the likelihood of complications and severe forms of the disease.

First flu death this season

The National Institute of Public Health (INSP) announced, also on Wednesday, that the first death caused by the flu this season was confirmed, an 88-year-old woman from Cluj, unvaccinated, who also suffered from other ailments. Moreover, the number of flu cases registered in the week of December 15-21 was 11,174, almost double the previous week.

The institution also announces that the first death confirmed with influenza virus this season was communicated, an 88-year-old woman from Cluj county, having pre-existing medical conditions, but not registered in the RENV as having been vaccinated against influenza, confirmed with influenza virus type A, subtype H3.

There were also 62 cases of severe acute respiratory infections (SARS), 11 more than the previous week and 20 more than the same period of the previous season, and 133 cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza (60 with AH3 influenza virus, 5 with AH1 influenza virus and 68 with non-subtyped influenza A virus).

“Since the beginning of the season, 294 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza have been reported, of which: 59 cases with non-subtyped influenza virus A, 119 with influenza virus AH3, 13 with influenza virus AH1, 3 cases with influenza virus B”, mentions the INSP.

Until 21.12.2025, a number of 1,252,642 flu vaccinations were registered in the National Electronic Register of Vaccinations (RENV) (1,227,743 being for the population groups that benefit from settlement under the compensated regime), of which 5,835 flu vaccinations in authorized community pharmacies.