With the flu rate up by 70 percent over the past week, health officials have warned that influenza epidemics could appear in the weeks to come, according to an article in the SME daily on Wednesday. Spokesperson of the Public Health Authority (UVZ) Lenka Skalická told the daily that influenza epidemics could occur at the district or even regional level. She went on to say that it's difficult to estimate at the moment whether a nationwide epidemic could occur. The neighbouring Czech Republic has recently witnessed four deaths from influenza, with Czech health officials now considering announcing a countrywide flu epidemic. No flu-related fatalities have been recorded in Slovakia so far, however. As far as the Slovak statistics go, the last week of January saw more than 2,300 people contract influenza with complications. This means that 478 in 100,000 people came down with flu towards the end of January, which represented a 70-percent hike compared to the previous week. Apart from regular flu symptoms, patients were most frequently suffering from sinus infections and pneumonia. The highest number of patients suffering from influenza was recorded in the Nitra region, the lowest in the Bratislava region.

Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: TASR