Big surge in infectious diseases

Many infectious diseases – RS virus, the flu, Covid and norovirus – are in circulation and they are spreading fast.

“It is not unusual to see big spikes in flu cases in the winter. But this cocktail of infectious diseases is unusual. It is probably a consequence of the prolonged social distancing during the Covid pandemic,” says Dr Shahin Gaini, professor of epidemiology.

Covid and the common flu need no introduction.

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The Norovirus, also called the "winter vomiting bug", is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. It can be very unpleasant, but usually goes away in about two days, according to the British NHS.

The RS (Respiratory syncytial) virus is a very common virus which causes infections of the respiratory tract. Read more in this Wikipedia article.

It all started this autumn when many babies were hospitalised with the RS virus. The virus then began spreading to adults.

This was followed by a sudden increase in influenza cases a few weeks ago, mostly influenza type A but also some cases of influenza type B.

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“We are also seeing some new Covid cases but so far not that many. And more recently, we have registered some cases of the norovirus,” explains the professor.

“These diseases are relatively harmless to most people, but as we heard in relation to Covid, people with weak immunity may experience serious symptoms. This is why we are urging people in risk groups to get vaccinated against Covid and the flu.”

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There are no exact figures for how many people are ill at the moment, but the numbers are believed to be high.

“Many infectious diseases virtually vanished during the Covid pandemic. We have an entire generation of babies who have never had a viral infection due to the increased protection during the pandemic. This may be part of the reason for this new surge in diseases,” he says.

“Now we need to go through a period of re-immunisation. This should all be over by early spring. Until then, however, we can expect quite a few hospitalisations.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.