Record number of 'flu patients registered in Hungary

The number of people infected with influenza has broken the Hungarian national record, writes fn.hu. In an average year, around 100,000-110,000 people are laid up with the 'flu. This year, the number of patients has already reached 160,000 of which 52,000 came down with the symptoms in the last week.

Leader of the National Center of Epidemiology Márta Melles said that while the epidemic used to affect the elderly and children, the new strains mostly attack young adults. Some 45 percent of patients are children, and 43 percent of the remaining sufferers are below 34 years. Only three percent of the infected people are elderly.

Of 100 samples sent into the center, 36 belonged to the most dangerous "A" strain, and only one sample belonged to the B type. The most infectious variant of the "A" strain is the H1N1, which caused the Spanish 'flu pandemic, but the 'flu vaccine protects against it. The virus is spreading even faster because it was hardly present in Hungary.

In Europe, the number of those who die from 'flu is between 40,000 and 220,000. Since the new strains affect mostly young adults who spend most of their time working and traveling in company, the spreads of the virus is accelerated.