Bonanni (Societ di Igiene): For the flu we are at a level of incidence that is usually found around the first week of January: we are almost two months early
Sars-CoV-2 continues to circulate (and change) ei flu viruses they made their appearance, immediately showing themselves to be quite aggressive. A difficult winter awaits us? Let’s start with the flu. General practitioners, meeting at the 39th congress of the Italian Society of General Medicine and Primary Care (Simg), sounded the alarm: The flu epidemic has already reached high levels this year – underlined Alessandro Rossi, manager of the Infectious Diseases Simg area -. The cases that we family doctors have encountered are numerous, especially in the youth population and in children. We must commit to protect the fragile population by extending the vaccination campaignespecially addressing over 65to those affected by co-morbidities and to subjects immunocompromessi, which can have consequences on hospitalizations and deaths. We must commit ourselves between now and the next few weeks, also taking the opportunity to propose co-administration: the flu vaccine may act as driver for booster dose against Covid and for other coverage against serious viral or bacterial infections such as pneumococcus or Herpes Zoster, which pose a threat to the fragile population.
Get vaccinated as soon as possible
Influenza data in these first weeks of November indicate a the incidence rate has already risen to 6.6 per thousand inhabitants, with peaks of 19.6 per thousand in the pediatric population from 0 to 5 years, which is the most affected and which is the main source of spread of the infection in the population – highlighted Paolo Bonanni, member of the group Vaccines and vaccination policies of the SItI (Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health) —. Today we are at one level of incidence that is usually found around the first week of January: we are in almost two months early. This doesn’t mean that we should have a similar trend to what we would have in January, but still a cause for alarm, and it represents an invitation to proceed with vaccinations as soon as possible. In this first phase we have encountered a slowness in joining. In Australia there was the worst season of the last 5 years. We predict 8-10 million cases, equal to those of a “florid” season, then it will also depend on the weather. The typical symptoms, we recall, are the abrupt onset of fever and a contemporary respiratory symptom. They are often indistinguishable from Covid in an acute phase observed Fabrizio Pregliasco, medical director of the Irccs Galeazzi Hospital – Sant’Ambrogio in Milan, in a meeting held at Tempo della Salute.
New Covid variants
And let’s move on to Sars-CoV-2. We know that some variants undermine the previous ones, especially in terms of transmission capacity (contagion), overcoming some barriers built by vaccines and previous infections. Vaccines do not block the spread, but limit it, and above all prevent serious disease. In the United States, the BQ.1 subvariant (nicknamed Cerberus) and its sublineage BQ.1.1 are responsible for half of the cases of Covid. They mostly outperformed the BA.5 (Omicron 5) variant. It also happens in Europe, where the BQ types are prevalent in France and Great Britain. In Italy, the latest survey on variants carried out by the Istituto Superiore di Sanit Rela still shows the predominance of BA.5 (equal to 91.5%), but the sequences BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are significantly increasing. How writes the New York Times Dan Barouch, head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, found that the new BQ.1.1 variant is about seven times more resistant to immune defenses than BA.5 and 175 times more resistant than the original coronavirus. (Wuhan strain).
Reservations collapse
Getting vaccinated against Covid and therefore crucial flu. The reintroduction of unvaccinated healthcare personnel has caused vaccination bookings to collapse. however, it is still essential to get vaccinated, not only for the frail, but also for others and out of a sense of responsibility – said Pierangelo Clerici, president of the Italian Clinical Microbiologists Association and of the Federation of Scientific Societies of Laboratory Medicine, a guest together with Pregliasco at the Health time. We must stop talking about the fourth or fifth dose: let’s talk about the booster – added Pregliasco -. 4-6 months after recovery or from the last vaccination we have to make a booster. In the future, let’s think about an annual vaccination. an opportunity for everyone and becomes stringent for those at risk and for healthcare personnel. There is a “vaccine fatigue”, even in the elderly, but the data are in favor of immunisation.
Pregnant women and children
important get vaccinated even during pregnancyboth against Covid and against the flu: For years, the flu vaccination has been strongly recommended for pregnant women, such as the one against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough – declared Pregliasco -. In the studies done, vaccination against Covid has also shown to protect mother and child: Coronavirus infection in pregnancy can be more serious. it is also important to protect children: The children who died or ended up in intensive care in Italy were: the higher risk than measles or similar viruses, especially the state in the first phase – recalled Pregliasco -. Today I speak of “opportunities” in particular for children at risk, because this virus can really cause problems. Adverse effects, for example the myocarditis that has been talked about so much, are ten times more likely with the virus than with vaccination.
November 22, 2022 (change November 22, 2022 | 5:35 pm)
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