RSV in Europe right now
The RSV season has not started yet: 0.1% of 1,175 GP sentinel swabs across the EU/EEA were positive for RSV in week 39 (21–27 Sep 2026).The 2026/27 season starts in week 40 (28 Sep – 4 Oct 2026); its first figures arrive about a week later.
ECDC/WHO sentinel data, recalculated every week · Medical review pending
On this page
This week at a glanceTrendBy countryAbout RSV seasonIf you are illHow to read the numbersQuestions people askSourcesThis week at a glance
- RSV: 0.1% positive across the EU/EEA in week 39 (1 of 1,175 swabs), baseline, stable.
- Same week last year across the EU/EEA: 0.2%.
- Highest this week (solid samples only): Spain, 0.2%.
- Last season (2025/26) RSV peaked across the EU/EEA at 14.5% in week 8.
RSV across the EU/EEA: this season and the last three
The numbers behind the chart: the last 8 weeks
| Week | Dates | Swabs | Positive | Share positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 39 | 21–27 Sep 2026 | 1,175 | 1 | 0.1% |
| Week 38 | 14–20 Sep 2026 | 1,030 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Week 37 | 7–13 Sep 2026 | 830 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Week 36 | 31 Aug – 6 Sep 2026 | 650 | 3 | 0.5% |
| Week 35 | 24–30 Aug 2026 | 524 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Week 34 | 17–23 Aug 2026 | 410 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Week 33 | 10–16 Aug 2026 | 484 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Week 32 | 3–9 Aug 2026 | 452 | 0 | 0.0% |
When the last four RSV seasons started and peaked
| Season | Above 3% (2 weeks) | Peak | Weeks to peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | Week 48 24–30 Nov 2025 | 14.5% · Week 8 | 12 |
| 2024/25 | Week 47 18–24 Nov 2024 | 8.8% · Week 52 | 5 |
| 2023/24 | Week 44 30 Oct – 5 Nov 2023 | 11.8% · Week 50 | 6 |
| 2022/23 | Week 41 10–16 Oct 2022 | 18.4% · Week 47 | 6 |
RSV in Europe this week, country by country
| Country | RSV | Level | vs last week | Flu | COVID-19 | Swabs | Data week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 0.2% | Baseline | ▬ +0.2 | 3.9% | 25.9% | 664 | Wk 39 |
| Cyprus | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 3.6% | 8.6% | 28 | Wk 36–39pooled |
| Denmark | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 3.7% | 0.0% | 27 | Wk 39 |
| Estonia | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 0.0% | 0.0% | 22 | Wk 39 |
| France | 0.0% | Baseline | ▬ ±0.0 | 1.7% | 6.1% | 115 | Wk 39 |
| Germany | 0.0% | Baseline | ▬ ±0.0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 85 | Wk 39 |
| Greece | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 0.0% | 0.0% | 27 | Wk 39 |
| Hungary | 0.0% | Baseline | ▬ ±0.0 | 0.0% | 1.3% | 75 | Wk 39 |
| Ireland | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 0.0% | 17.4% | 23 | Wk 37 |
| Luxembourg | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 2.2% | 6.7% | 44 | Wk 39 |
| Netherlands | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 7.7% | 5.8% | 52 | Wk 36–39pooled |
| Norway | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 0.0% | 4.0% | 25 | Wk 39 |
| Slovenia | 0.0% | Baseline | – | 5.0% | 10.0% | 20 | Wk 37 |
| Austria | not tested | ||||||
| Belgium | fewer than 20 swabs in the last four weeks · last data week 39 | ||||||
| Bulgaria | network reports in season only · last data week 13 | ||||||
| Czechia | network reports in season only · last data week 22 | ||||||
| Italy | network reports in season only · last data week 9 | ||||||
| Lithuania | network reports in season only · last data week 19 | ||||||
| Poland | network reports in season only · last data week 34 | ||||||
| Portugal | fewer than 20 swabs in the last four weeks · last data week 37 | ||||||
| Slovakia | fewer than 20 swabs in the last four weeks · last data week 39 | ||||||
| Sweden | network reports in season only · last data week 20 | ||||||
13 of 23 networks have a current RSV figure. Reporting in season only: Bulgaria, Czechia, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. Too few swabs in the last four weeks: Belgium, Portugal and Slovakia.
When is RSV season?
RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) causes a cold in most older children and adults, but it is the leading cause of bronchiolitis in babies and a real risk for people over 75. In Europe it circulates mainly in winter and often peaks a few weeks before flu.
Across the EU/EEA, RSV positivity went above 3% in week 41 in 2022/23, week 44 in 2023/24, week 47 in 2024/25 and week 48 in 2025/26 and peaked at 18.4% (week 47), 11.8% (week 50), 8.8% (week 52) and 14.5% (week 8).
Positivity among GP swabs understates RSV in babies, who are mostly seen in hospital; national paediatric surveillance gives the fuller picture for young children.
Ill with flu, COVID-19 or RSV: what to do
Flu, COVID-19 and RSV cause similar symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat, aches and tiredness. Most healthy adults get better at home within one to two weeks with rest, plenty to drink and paracetamol or ibuprofen for fever and pain.
Stay at home while you have a fever and keep away from people at higher risk: babies, older people and anyone who is pregnant or has a weakened immune system. Antiviral medicines for flu work best when they are started within 48 hours of the first symptoms, so people in a higher-risk group should contact a doctor early.
How long are you contagious? Our calculator works out your dates from the day your symptoms started: How long is RSV contagious?
See a doctor if
- you are 65 or over, pregnant, or have recently given birth
- you have a long-term condition, or a weakened immune system
- you feel very unwell, or short of breath
- your symptoms are not improving after 7 days
- you are worried about a baby's or child's symptoms
Call 112 in an emergency
- sudden chest pain
- severe difficulty breathing — gasping, choking, or unable to get words out
- coughing up blood
- a baby who is breathing very fast, has blue lips or is unusually drowsy
Mobi Doctor connects you with a licensed EU-registered doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes, daily 7am–11pm CET.
How to read these numbers
Each week, GPs in every country's sentinel network take swabs from a sample of patients who come in with flu-like illness or an acute respiratory infection, and laboratories test them for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV. Test positivity is the share of those swabs that are positive. It tells you how likely it is that a flu-like illness is flu, COVID-19 or RSV right now — not how many people are ill.
For flu, below 10% is baseline: 10% is the epidemic threshold used in European sentinel surveillance. The bands above it (10–25% low, 25–40% moderate, 40–55% high, 55% and over very high), and the bands for COVID-19 (5/15/25/35%) and RSV (3/8/15/25%), are our own, so that every page uses the same scale.
Small samples swing from week to week. We leave out any week with fewer than 20 swabs, mark weeks with fewer than 50 (*), and only show a trend — a change of 3 percentage points or more against the previous week — when both weeks have at least 30. Between seasons, low-volume networks are pooled over four weeks and labelled. Only a solid weekly sample can be named Europe's highest.
The latest week is provisional: countries add late results, so a figure can still change in the next weekly release. The UK and Switzerland are not part of this dataset.
Questions people ask
Is RSV going around in Europe right now?
The RSV season has not started yet: 0.1% of 1,175 GP sentinel swabs across the EU/EEA were positive for RSV in week 39 (21–27 Sep 2026).
When is RSV season?
Across the EU/EEA, RSV rose above 3% positivity in week 41 (2022/23), week 44 (2023/24), week 47 (2024/25) and week 48 (2025/26) and peaked between week 47 and week 8.
Who is most at risk from RSV?
Babies under one year, especially those born early, and adults over 75 or with heart or lung disease. Most older children and healthy adults get a cold-like illness.
How often is this page updated?
Every week, after ECDC and WHO Europe publish the ERVISS data, usually on a Friday. The latest week is provisional.
About this page
Built by the Mobi Doctor medical content team from the weekly ECDC/WHO Europe ERVISS data release. Every figure on this page is calculated from that data by the same published method each week; nothing is typed in by hand.
Medical review by Dr. Chrysoula Liakou is in progress; this page will say when it is complete.
Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will check it against the source. Contact us