The flu outbreak has started in all regions of the country and the flu vaccine that was administered will have a low to moderate effect, states the National Institute of Public Health.
According to the institute, laboratory tests have confirmed influenza has increased significantly and there has been a sharp increase in the number of detected A and B cases in recent weeks.
It is expected that the outbreak will continue to increase in the weeks around Christmas and New Year, but the actual peak will probably be reached in January. On a nation wide basis, there are now the same number of influenza A (H3N2) and influenza B cases.
– “The influenza B virus that is currently in circulation is not the same as in the vaccines, so we expect a low-moderate effect of the vaccine this year,” says senior counselor Ragnhild Tønnessen at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health for Aftenposten.
The A virus that causes half of the flu cases is the same vaccine as last year and it is therefore expected that some of the population will be protected from this strain.
So far, the majority of counties have low influenza activity. Since October, two influenza outbreaks have been reported in health institutions.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
