SEASONAL INFLUENZA IN POLAND– 2025/2026 SEASON EPIDEMIOLOGY, COMPLICATIONS, TREATMENT – LITERATURE REVIEW
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31435/ijitss.2(50).2026.6046Keywords:
Seasonal Flu, Poland, 2025/2026, Vaccinations, Antiviral Treatment, ComplicationsAbstract
Seasonal influenza caused by the influenza virus remains an important respiratory disease in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that seasonal influenza causes about a billion infections per year, including 3-5 million severe cases and 290,000-650,000 deaths from respiratory causes. The 2025/2026 season in Europe started early: by mid-December 2025, WHO Europe was reporting intense influenza activity in more than half of the reporting countries and indicating the K subset of virus A (H3N2) as the main transmission factor in the general population. In Poland, official communications from the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) similarly described an early acceleration of the disease, especially among children, without evidence of unusual virulence or clinically significant resistance to oseltamivir. The highest age-specific peaks were recorded among children aged 0-4 years (1,746.4 per 100,000) and 5-9 years (1,464.1 per 100,000). Vaccination coverage improved: the same official data export recorded 2,305,395 vaccinations against influenza in the 2025/2026 season to April 2026, compared to 1,805,695 in the 2024/2025 season. Current literature confirms that influenza is not just a self-limiting upper respiratory tract infection; It is associated with bacterial pneumonia, cardiovascular events, neurological complications and decompensation of chronic diseases. Modern management should therefore combine annual vaccinations, early diagnosis of complications, timely antiviral treatment in hospitalized, severe or progressive patients or those belonging to high-risk groups, as well as rational antibiotic therapy.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Michal Zaborowski, Klaudia Purgal-Zaborowska, Klaudia Michalowska, Oliwer Kolanowski, Mateusz Winkler, Aleksandra Arczewska, Julia Bezak, Olga Turzanska, Jonatan Rataj
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