DUBLIN, Ireland: Irish health officials report seeing a significant decrease in the number of flu cases nationwide.

In a statement from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the number of confirmed influenza cases decreased in the past week to 629 cases, as of January 22.

For the week ending January 15 there had been 1,564 cases reported.

However, Irish health officials again warned those people in at-risk groups to get vaccinated against influenza.

Further, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre reports that since October 2022, 13,078 influenza cases have been confirmed throughout Ireland.

Within Ireland, Influenza-A viruses have been most commonly seen this season in all age groups.

However, the median age for influenza cases was 51, though one-third of cases were among people over 65 years.

To date, 3,698 people have been hospitalized with influenza throughout Ireland, with 137 treated in critical care units.

During the third week of January there were 166 people admitted to hospitals with influenza.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre also reports that 80 deaths have been attributed to Irishmen contracting influenza since the beginning of October 2022.

For those people in at-risk groups, the influenza vaccine is available nationwide at no-charge.

Those considered at-risk are the elderly, those living in nursing facilities, all people under 18 years old, and a variety of people suffering from respiratory ailments.