The season of enhanced surveillance of flu and other acute respiratory viral infections began in Ukraine this week and will run until 23 May 2027. This is when illness traditionally rises, including in the Kyiv region.

This was announced by the Public Health Center of the Health Ministry.

How doctors track the viruses

Surveillance works on two levels. Routine surveillance is carried out by every health facility in the country: it shows how many people sought help with respiratory symptoms, in which regions and how the number of visits changes.

Sentinel surveillance is narrower but more detailed. The network covers 34 facilities in different regions, where samples are taken regularly to identify which viruses and flu strains are circulating and how they change. This is the network’s tenth season.

Influenza A viruses (green) on the cilia of human nasal epithelium under an electron microscope. Illustrative photoPhoto: Phage1990 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Influenza A viruses (green) on the cilia of human nasal epithelium under an electron microscope. Illustrative photo

The Public Health Center is Ukraine’s National Influenza Centre in the WHO global surveillance system. Data on viruses circulating in Ukraine, together with information from other countries, help decide the composition of flu vaccines each year.

How last season went in the Kyiv region

Last season Ukraine crossed the epidemic threshold in week seven of 2026, 9–15 February. The rise lasted only three weeks and peaked on 16–22 February at 508.9 respiratory infections per 100,000 people, compared with 758.4 a year earlier, the centre’s summary says.

Nationwide the epidemic remained of low intensity and reached medium level in only six regions. The Kyiv region was one of them, staying at medium level for three weeks. Zhytomyr and Poltava regions did the same, Volyn and Khmelnytskyi regions four weeks and Rivne region two.

No region reached a high level, and in Kyiv itself figures never rose above the pre-epidemic level all season. In total, from late September 2025 to mid-May 2026, 4,236,118 people in Ukraine had a respiratory infection, 56% of them children.

What the figures say about vaccination

Over the season 119,799 people were hospitalised with respiratory infections and another 7,100 with COVID-19. 199 people died, including 12 children. According to the centre, none of those who died had been vaccinated against flu or COVID-19.

Last season 78,904 people were vaccinated against flu, 44,582 of them from medical and epidemic risk groups. The largest group was medical workers, with 20,375 people vaccinated.

As a reminder, Bucha has shown international partners the project for a new multi-profile hospital on Polova Street.

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