There’s a common joke in Germany, normally made during the winter flu season: “Husten (cough), we have a problem.” But this year the number of respiratory infections, causing coughs, fevers and aches, is rising in the middle of summer.

According to the Robert Koch Institute’s (RKI) most recent respiratory infection statistics (ARE), the number of Covid-19 infections in Germany has been rising steadily over the past weeks to reach 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the week beginning June 17th. This increase follows a drop-off at the turn of the season.

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In Berlin, meanwhile, the number of Covid infections recorded in the laboratories and by local authorities has doubled within a week, the RKI told regional newspaper Tagesspiegel.

This reflects a general trend of rising flu-like infections this summer, with viruses like rhinovirus and enterovirus among the most commonly recorded. 

The past week saw an increase in the incidence of this type of infection rom 1,200 to 1,300 per 100,000 people.

Meanwhile, the overall incidence of respiratory viruses hit 5,900 per 100,000 residents, which equates to around five million cases in the population as a whole.

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In its weekly infection report, the RKI states that this type of virus is “currently at a comparatively high level for this time of year”, but adds that severe cases remain rare so far.

The health authority advises people with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection to stay home for three to five days or until their symptoms have improved significantly. 

Self-reported data

Since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, the public health authority has been relying heavily on data self-submitted through its GrippeWeb portal to monitor the prevalence of flu-type viruses in Germany.

This data is then extrapolated out to the general population to create estimated incidences for society as a whole.

Infections are also partially monitored through local health authorities and lab reports, as well as through samples from waste water plants that contain traces of the virus.

According to the RKI, water from around 100 waste plants was available for the latest report, covering around 19 percent of the population.

New viruses 

Though Covid has been far less prevalent since the pandemic became endemic, top Berlin virologist Christian Drosten has recently issued warnings that other new virus could potentially spark a new global health crisis.

Speaking to RND at the end of June, Drosten cited the MERS virus and the H5N1 bird flu virus – the first human case of which was recently recorded in the US – as possible triggers for a new pandemic. 

According to the Charité virologist, there have even been traces of H5N1 in wholesale milk from the US that has come from infected cows.

“There has never been anything like this before, such extremely large outbreaks in cows – all the experts are worried,” he said, adding that the outlook was still unclear.

“We don’t really know what will happen now because we don’t have very good insight into the data,” Drosten said.