Prague Daily Monitor Number of respiratory diseases up by 80% in Prague ČTK | 11 January 2010 Prague, Jan 8 (CTK) - The number of acute respiratory diseases and flu cases has risen by 80 percent in Prague in the first week of January, with 670 per 100,000 inhabitants being ill, an increase from 370 in the previous week, according to the statistical data released Friday. The number is still the lowest in the whole of the Czech Republic where some 956 people per 100,000 inhabitants are ill now. An epidemic starts at 2000 per 100,000. Chief sanitary commissioner Michael Vit told CTK that Prague has always been an exception. "People leave for Christmas and end-year holidays and the incidence of acute respiratory diseases is always the lowest in Prague at this time," Vit said. Now that children are back at school and nurseries, the sickness rate is increasing. Copyright 2009 by the Czech News Agency (ČTK). All rights reserved.