Influenza: 1 million Italian cases within a week

In Italy, the most recent report from the national RespiVirNet network documented an escalation in cases of flu-like syndromes during the fourth week of 2025, from January 20 to 26. Specifically, 1,021,000 weekly cases were reported, with a national incidence level of 17.3 cases per thousand patients, thus surpassing the threshold designated as ‘high intensity’. The incidence is increasing most steeply in the paediatric age groups, especially in children under five years of age, where it is equal to 43.6 cases per thousand assisted. Experts point out that the peak has not yet been officially reached. The regions most affected are Lombardy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Puglia, and Sardinia. According to the data reported by the national observatory, the percentage of samples that tested positive only for seasonal influenza out of the total samples analysed is 36%. In particular, out of 3,879 clinical samples received by the various laboratories belonging to the RespiVirNet network, 1,040 tested positive for influenza virus type A and 353 for influenza virus type B. Among the samples analysed, 3 60 (9.3%) tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), 69 (1.7%) for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the remaining 474 tested positive for other respiratory viruses, of which 5% were rhinovirus.