Grippewelle 2026: Jetzt schnell noch impfen? | Studio Q

Main Ideas

• The flu season may arrive early, but its severity is uncertain. The video says flu activity began earlier than usual in the United States, while Japan saw widespread school closures. In Germany, wastewater measurements were still low in mid-October, though rising. The Southern Hemisphere’s season was not exceptionally severe, but that does not make the Northern Hemisphere’s season predictable.

• Flu vaccination can help even when it does not prevent every infection.

  • The vaccine’s estimated effectiveness is 20–60%, meaning it lowers the risk of getting sick by that amount compared with not being vaccinated.
  • If someone gets flu despite vaccination, their illness may be milder. One study cited in the video found symptom severity was 31% lower among vaccinated people.
  • Vaccination is also associated with a lower risk of death and can reduce transmission to others.
  • The video estimates vaccination could prevent about 400,000 flu cases per year among people over 60 in Germany.

• Flu can have serious consequences. The video cites an estimate of around 16,000 flu-associated deaths in the previous season, while noting that the figure also includes deaths linked to RSV, another respiratory virus, because the two are not recorded separately. Many deaths occur among older or chronically ill people. Flu may also contribute to heart attacks or strokes through inflammation affecting blood vessels.

• Flu may rarely be followed by ME/CFS. A Norwegian population study from 2023 reportedly found that flu infection more than doubled the risk of developing ME/CFS. Among vaccinated people, the risk was similar to the pre-infection baseline. The mechanisms are not yet fully understood.

• Flu vaccines are updated each year because flu viruses change.

  • Flu viruses can exchange genetic material when different strains infect the same cell. In particular, an exchange between human and animal flu viruses could produce a new variant.
  • More commonly, copying errors gradually alter parts of the virus’s surface proteins. These changes can make antibodies from earlier infections or vaccinations less effective.
  • The video uses hemagglutinin—the flu virus’s cell-entry protein—as an example. Parts of it can change while its essential cell-binding function must remain, meaning antibodies may recognize newer viruses less well.
  • For this reason, the vaccine is updated annually. The video says all three vaccine components were updated this year.

Who Is Recommended to Get Vaccinated?

The video says Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) recommends flu vaccination for people who:

• Have a chronic illness.
• Are pregnant.
• Are 60 or older.
• Live in a care or nursing home.
• Work in healthcare or another job with frequent contact with many people.
• Have frequent contact with pigs, chickens, wild birds, or seals, to help limit the exchange of influenza viruses between animals and humans.

The video reports that in the 2024–25 season, about one in three people over 60 and one in ten at-risk children with chronic illnesses were vaccinated.

Timing

• Vaccination protection takes about 10–14 days to develop.
• The video says vaccination is recommended from October onward, and that the current low-but-rising virus levels make it a suitable time to get vaccinated.
• Flu cases often rise from late September, with the main peak after New Year. Later vaccination may still be useful: the video notes that a second wave occurred in March in 2023.

If You Are Young and Healthy

• STIKO does not explicitly recommend vaccination for everyone in this group, but the video stresses that this is not advice against vaccination.
• The risk of severe outcomes is lower among younger people: the video reports that people under 36 accounted for 1% of flu deaths in the 2025–26 season, and those aged 36–60 for a further 4%.
• Prior infection or vaccination may leave some residual immune memory, but how well that protects an individual depends on how much the virus has changed.
• The video presents vaccination for younger, healthy people as an individual decision. It suggests considering:
  1. How often you are around crowds, such as on public transport, at work or university, or at concerts and clubs.
  2. Whether you have close contact with people at higher risk, such as older relatives, medically vulnerable children, or people you care for.
  3. How disruptive a prolonged illness would be—for example, if you are self-employed, a single parent, or cannot easily take time off.
  4. The possibility of short-term side effects. The video says more than one in ten people report fatigue or headache after vaccination, and about one in 100 develop a fever.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Speaker: An unnamed presenter or narrator explains the information and refers to being part of the group that keeps working while ill.
• Referenced but not heard: An unnamed colleague who became sick.
• Sources and evidence mentioned:
  • The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), for flu-season and wastewater information and estimates of flu-associated deaths.
  • The Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO), for vaccination recommendations.
  • A 2023 study of Norway’s population, on flu infection, vaccination, and ME/CFS risk.
  • An unspecified study reporting lower symptom severity among vaccinated people.
  • Experts, whose assessments draw partly on flu activity in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Outro reference: The presenter mentions a separate video made with a name transcribed as “Marsband”; the subtitle is unclear.