2023-12-24 08:13:30
Covid, flu and various respiratory viruses put around a million Italians to bed at Christmas. According to data from the latest bulletin from the Ministry of Health, over 60 thousand Covid cases were recorded in the last week, with a +7.2% variation compared to 7 days ago. However, there are approximately 884,000 estimated infections of flu-like syndrome.
“From influenza, the real one that is only growing now, to colds, coughs and other respiratory viruses, to a lot of Covid, with varied, more or less accentuated symptoms, there will be around a million Italians who will spend the Christmas holidays in bed or struggling with seasonal ailments”, underlines the virologist of the University of Milan Fabrizio Pregliasco who, heard by time.news Salute, issues a warning a few hours before the start of lunches, dinners, exchange of greetings and gifts: the recommendation for everyone ‘prince’ is “don’t be heroes, don’t fill yourself with drugs until you eliminate the symptoms just to participate in dinner tables and family gatherings because you hurt yourself and above all others”.
Pregliasco: “No excess drugs just to celebrate”
Pregliasco recalls how the high number of sick people during this Christmas depends on a series of factors: “First of all because this year there was a return to a ‘new’ normality which led us all to lower our guard compared to to the past, and then because we have had large temperature changes that greatly favor these viruses.” According to the expert, these are “pathologies not to be underestimated”, even if – he underlines – “we must enjoy this normality because we deserve it, and to ensure that this happens peacefully there are some common sense recommendations to respect: from ventilating the rooms in the house when there are many people gathered together, to the essential rules of hygiene, hand washing and more, to using a mask when there are fragile people”.
As for the ‘treatments’ for those who have already contracted some virus, Pregliasco recommends first of all “rest as much as possible, and only for the fragile, where indicated, the addition of the oral antiviral Paxlovid. For the others – he explains – you can take anti-inflammatory, anti-cough drugs etc. as long as you do responsible self-medication. Absolutely no to self-prescribed antibiotics”, warns the virologist, “and always respecting the prescribed dosages to alleviate the symptoms without eliminating them, because – he explains – these drugs modulate the inflammatory response: if we eliminate the symptoms we play the game of the virus, in the meantime because, stuffed with medicines we do everything we shouldn’t do”, that is, we participate in the Christmas conviviality “which puts us and others at risk. Let’s remember then that the fever itself is a positive symptom of the organism, of inflammation understood as an immune response to attack the virus. Therefore, this does not mean staying with the fever like a horse, but nor does it mean being heroes by ignoring the disease. Finally, if you have any symptoms you can wear a surgical mask which, as we have learned, protects others unlike the FFp2 which also protects us from others”, he concludes.
Lopalco: “With symptoms, stay at home so as not to ruin parties for others”
“The best parties are undoubtedly spent enjoying the company of friends and relatives. But if we have flu symptoms, we stay at home: let’s not ruin the parties for others.” This is the advice, reported to time.news Salute, by Pier Luigi Lopalco, professor of Hygiene at the University of Salento.
Meeting other people when you are suffering from any respiratory infectious disease is not a heroic act. It is imprudent for oneself and for others. For oneself, as any viral disease even in a young person and in good physical condition deserves due attention to avoid the risk of complications. For others, as by walking around with the flu, we inevitably, no matter how careful we are, spread the infection.”
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