“The inversion of the curve” of contagions that draws the trend of Covid-19 in Italy “a bit restless, actually, because for example the data from Germany do not give us hope“and” England is accelerating on the fourth doses of the vaccine. “Thus the virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco, professor at the State University of Milan, who with the time.news Salute tries to think about the possible ‘complicit’ factors of the rise in Rt and incidence .
“Certainly – observes the doctor – at this moment there are very strong temperature changes that facilitate the spread” of Sars-CoV-2. Furthermore, “there is certainly also a little lowering of attention, the fact of imagining an ‘all over’. There is also an important share of children aged 5 to 11 who are becoming infected at the moment”, a group of age that in Italy has been vaccinated so far “only around 30%”. Finally, the advent of the ‘sisters’ of the now dominant Omicron variant could weigh: “Omicron 2 and 3, with their greater contagiousness, worry a little – does not deny Pregliasco – because they have a greater penetration capacity”.
As always, the expert’s invitation is to monitor the epidemiological trend with great attention, so as to progressively contrast targeted and appropriate strategies for each phase.
“It was already expected that there could be a new wave” of Covid-19, says Pregliasco, “but with the arrival of autumn, in correspondence with the coldest period. I hope that the trend we are observing”, with the rise of Rt and incidence that in the last week has led to a reversal of the curve, “is not the anticipation of that new wave that was expected later on. A review of the timing of administration of a new, more extensive vaccine booster may therefore be necessary, but will be evaluated on the basis of the epidemiological trend in the near future. We hope we can wait “.
“And anyway, I don’t think it will be a new universal vaccination”, a second booster for everyone, specifies the expert, but rather an intervention that may concern “the elderly and the people most at risk” of severe forms of the disease if infected with Sars-CoV-2.