A further 14,066 people were vaccinated against influenza last week, bringing the total number immunised since the start of the campaign to 2,492,594 — just short of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) target of around 2.5 million.
According to the latest Seasonal Health Surveillance and Monitoring Report from the DGS, covering the week of December 15 to 21, there was an overall increase in hospital emergency attendances, which reached 124,237, up 1.9% on the previous week.
The proportion of emergency cases linked to acute respiratory infections also rose to 9.1%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points, while flu-like syndrome cases accounted for 4.93% of attendances, up 0.08 percentage points.
Health authorities have renewed calls for vaccination amid rising levels of acute respiratory infections and influenza, which have increased demand on emergency services, including the National Medical Emergency Institute (INEM) and the SNS 24 health helpline.
DGS data show flu vaccination coverage stands at 86.74% among people aged over 85, 77.88% in those aged 80 to 84, 74.21% among those aged 70 to 79, and 71.94% in people aged over 65.
One of the main changes in the 2025/2026 Seasonal Vaccination Campaign was the extension of free flu vaccination to all children aged between six and 23 months, regardless of health status or risk group. Since the campaign began on September 23, 58,009 children in this age group have been vaccinated, representing coverage of 44.69%.
Covid-19 vaccination rates remain lower than those for influenza. Coverage stands at 59.06% among people aged over 85, 47.74% in the 80 to 84 age group, 42.83% among those aged 70 to 79, and 42.86% in people aged over 65.
The DGS report concludes that Portugal is currently experiencing “epidemic flu activity with an upward trend”.
During the same week, the proportion of emergency admissions related to influenza increased among children under one year of age (4.6%; +0.2 percentage points compared to the previous week), and among people aged 65 or over (21.5%; +1.5 p.p. compared to the previous week).
Hospital pressure also continued to increase. The seven-day moving average of ward bed occupancy for all causes rose to 80.9%, while intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy reached 72.1%.
The proportion of ICU patients diagnosed with influenza fell slightly to 9%, according to data from the national ICU surveillance network.
Overall mortality was higher than expected for this time of year, with excess deaths recorded in the North and Centre regions and among people aged 75 to 84 and those aged over 85.
A preliminary weekly analysis of causes of death showed that respiratory diseases accounted for 16.6% of proportional mortality, continuing an upward trend compared to the previous two weeks, and exceeding both early-season levels and the peak recorded during the 2024/2025 flu season (16.5%).
