Italy's unusually mild winter continues to delay the arrival of the flu season and experts now do not expect it to peak until the end of February.
"It's difficult to say whether this unusually warm weather is solely to blame for the delay in the flu season. However, it is true that cold weather lowers the body's defences, making it easier to get sick," observed Stefania Salmaso from the Higher Institute of Health (ISS).
Other factors which may have contributed to the low number of reported flu cases so far included the fact that more people have been vaccinated and the viruses which are in circulation are not radically different from previous ones, meaning that many people have already built up an immunity against them, she added.
Nevertheless, the ISS expert said she still expected the flu to hit at some point and added that people were still in time to be vaccinated
Salmaso's view was confirmed by University of Milan virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco who believes that it is just a matter of time before the epidemic hits.
The flu will sweep through Italy as soon the temperatures finally drop, he said.
This year's influenza has been dubbed the 'American flu', which Pregliasco said was "primarily based on the Wisconsin type A virus (H3N2) with strains of the New Caledonia A (H1N1) and Malaysia B viruses".
At the start of the year, when cold weather had been forecast, Pregliasco predicted that some six million Italians would catch the flu, about 12% of the population, compared to 2.5 million last season, which was considered a mild year.
Another five million Italians are expected to catch viruses which will produce conditions similar to the flu but with the main difference that any fever will be lower than for 'real' flu.
Pregliasco observed that the best way to treat flu was to rest and let it run its course.
Because there is no medicine which can cure the virus, he added, medicines should only be used to treat the common flu and cold symptoms like fever, runny noses, stomach problems and aches.
These symptoms, Pregliasco explained, were in fact the reaction of the body's immune system to the flu virus.
Antibiotics, the expert warned, should be avoided because they are effective against bacterial infections and not against viral infections.
The only times when antibiotics should be used is when there are bacterial complications from flu, for example in the respiratory system.
