In Tyrol there are currently more men on sick leave than women. According to current figures from the regional health insurance fund, 23,868 people are unable to go to work. This time last year it was far fewer, at 19,556. However, the ÖGK in Tyrol can only provide information about employed persons. Children, pensioners and unemployed persons are not recorded there.
Half coronavirus, half influenza
Half of the people on sick leave were infected with the corona virus, said Innsbruck general practitioner and internist Momen Radi, who is also a representative of family doctors in the Tyrol Medical Association. 11,815 Tyroleans are currently CoV positive. The majority of the other half is currently plagued by flu infections, with fever, cough, runny nose and sore throat. According to the health insurance fund, only 14 people are currently affected by real flu.
The immune system must be challenged
The fact that this year, in the third year of the pandemic, sickness rates have risen again can definitely be seen as a newfound normality, said doctor Radi: “The fact that we now have so many sick people has to do with the fact that people wear fewer masks and we do so that they are more susceptible to infections of any kind. But we’ve also lost immunity over the past two years as we’ve prevented contacts. It is basically good that the body keeps coming into contact with viruses, germs and bacteria in order to maintain basic immunity. And I do believe that we are slowly returning to a normal level.”
Doctors recommend both vaccinations
Physician Momen Radi advises both vaccinations, both the coronavirus and the flu vaccination. The state of Tyrol also emphasized in a broadcast on Thursday that immunity to influenza is currently very low in the population. In order to flatten the expected wave of influenza, however, a high vaccination rate is necessary, said the country’s health director, Theresa Geley. As part of the Tyrol vaccination campaign, children between the ages of six months and 15 years receive the flu vaccination free of charge. This also applies to people who are housed in a nursing home.
Brita Bauer, tirol.ORF.at