The death toll from Cyprus’s ongoing influenza epidemic has reached 13 following the death of a 54-year-old man at a private hospital, health officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Dr Elizabeth Constantinou, the Acting Director General of the Ministry of Health, warned that while the majority of fatalities involve elderly patients over 80 with underlying health conditions, the latest death signals that the virus has begun to break through the traditional age barriers associated with high-risk groups.
The spike in fatalities has occurred rapidly, with six of the 13 deaths recorded in the last few days alone—five over the weekend and one on Monday. Dr Constantinou noted that the current loss of life is significantly higher than during the same period last year. While the 54-year-old victim is considered an “exception” to the trend of elderly fatalities, the Ministry is awaiting final confirmation from the World Health Organisation (WHO) system to verify if influenza was the primary cause of death in all recent cases.
Despite the rising death toll, the Ministry of Health expressed “cautious optimism” that the epidemic has reached its peak. Epidemiological data suggests a slight decline in new infections and hospital admissions, indicating that the peak of the wave may have passed. However, the healthcare system remains under significant pressure, with both public and private hospitals facing a heavy diagnostic and laboratory workload due to a broader surge in respiratory infections.
To date, the public response to the flu vaccination campaign has been strong, with more than 145 thousand of the 160 thousand available doses already administered. In contrast, uptake for the COVID-19 vaccine remains “very low,” which officials attribute to widespread public hesitancy following the pandemic.
Dr Constantinou urged those in high-risk groups who have not yet been vaccinated to do so immediately, noting that a second, albeit smaller, wave of infections is often recorded between mid-February and early March.
Current data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) places the effectiveness of this year’s flu vaccine at over 55%. While slightly lower than the usual 65% due to a specific sub-strain of the virus, officials maintain that the vaccine remains a critical tool for preventing severe illness.
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