Influenza activity remains high and increasing in many European
countries, although transmission may have peaked in some
countries, mostly in western Europe, concludes the Weekly
Influenza Surveillance Overview, Week 3, 2013. Thirteen European
countries as well as one region in the UK (Northern Ireland)
reports medium intensity of influenza transmission, and one
country (Iceland) reports high intensity. Seventeen countries
reports increasing transmission, compared to 19 countries in
week 2/2013. At the same time, five countries, mostly in western
Europe, are reporting decreasing trends, compared to only two
countries in week 02/2013, indicating that transmission may have
peaked in these countries. Virological surveillance in week 3
shows that, of the 1629 sentinel specimens tested, 42.2% were
positive for influenza virus. This relatively high percentage is
similar to what was seen in the two previous weeks. Since week
40/2012, of all influenza virus detections in sentinel
specimens, the proportion of type A a