2023-09-29 15:14:33
Sneezing, stuffy nose and handkerchief always in hand. A little sore throat, maybe a few lines of fever, some stomach and intestinal discomfort. Too little to say “I have the flu”, not enough to say “I have Covid” because the test is negative. What is that? Or rather, what are they? Many years ago the virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco christened them “‘cousin’ viruses”, more or less close relatives of the actual flu, lurking especially in intermediate seasons like this one. “Between types and subtypes we count 262”, explains the expert who entrusts time.news Salute with an identikit of these flu-like forms and a guide for managing them safely.
The load of the cousin viruses will cause “around 10 million cases in Italy this year, which will be added to 5-6 million cases of real flu”, predicts Pregliasco, researcher at the Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health of the State University and medical director of the Irccs Galeazzi-Sant’Ambrogio hospital in Milan. “An estimate based on historical data – he specifies – on the performance of previous seasons”.
WHO ARE THE COUSIN VIRUSES?, invisible enemies different from both the flu and Covid? “Excluding Sars-CoV-2 – explains Pregliasco – there are 263 viruses that can create respiratory problems that can be placed on an increasing scale. On the highest step, the 263rd, there is the actual flu”; the other 262 positions are therefore occupied by ‘relative’ viruses. “On the lowest rung of this imaginary scale – clarifies the specialist – we find rhinoviruses, the simple cold viruses. While at the opposite extreme, immediately below the flu, there are the adult respiratory syncytial virus and the metapneumoviruses which with “Influenza represents the heaviest from a clinical point of view”. On the intermediate steps ‘sit’ “all the other cousin viruses: adenoviruses, non-Covid coronaviruses, parainfluenza viruses, enteroviruses”, just to list the main ones.
HOW ARE THEY RECOGNIZED? “These are viruses that cause very variable problems”, underlines Pregliasco. Among the most common “a bit of a cold and sore throat, perhaps even a mild fever, sometimes some gastrointestinal disorder. In short, more subtle symptoms that last less than the classic 5 days” of “passion” typical of Doc flu, “a mix that pushes many to say ‘I had the flu’ even if it wasn’t the flu.” To call it such, the expert recalls, “as we know you need to have a sharp rise in temperature, with fever above 38 degrees, at least one general symptom (muscle-joint pain) and at least one respiratory symptom”.
HOW ARE THEY TREATED? “Most of the cousin viruses are treated with responsible self-medication, which means the use of symptomatic drugs that must alleviate the ailments without eliminating them: this is a key principle of responsible self-medication”, points out Pregliasco. “In order not to play the virus’s game, we must alleviate the symptoms without completely erasing them”, in order to monitor the progress of the disease and allow the body to react. The ‘pillars’ of this approach are different and numerous. “We are talking about active ingredients ranging from anti-febrile to nasal decongestant, alone or formulated in a mix, to other anti-inflammatories or drugs aimed at specific symptoms, to be taken – recommends the virologist – with the advice of your doctor”.
SWABON YES OR SWABON NO? In everyday life and outside the hospital environment, doubt arises spontaneously and legitimately in this post-pandemic era, characterized by a co-circulation of cousin viruses, influenza and Sars-CoV-2. “For the frail patient and the elderly – is Pregliasco’s general indication – the Covid-19 swab becomes a decisive element in being able to carry out a differential diagnosis and immediately understand whether or not to start treatment with anti-Covid antiviral drugs “. However, if a person is basically healthy, “the swab is best done if they have to meet the elderly and frail or assist them, therefore if they are caregivers or healthcare personnel, by definition in contact with these risk categories”.
SHOULD THE MASK BE USED? CAN YOU GO OUT OR BETTER STAY AT HOME? “We use the mask without that ideological aspect of the past anymore”, reiterates the expert. “The mask is used to protect ourselves, but above all to protect others if we are symptomatic or if we know we are positive for Covid, because let’s remember that in these cases we are ‘infectors'”. The mask becomes even more important considering that, “if you are well, it becomes problematic for the doctor to prescribe the disease and therefore it is presumable that many go to work as they did in the past, taking a drug and off they go”. For Pregliasco, “the ideal would be to rely on common sense. If you really go out, a surgical mask and no to the stigma. Let’s not point out those who, for a thousand reasons, prefer to use it. Maybe it’s a person who knows they’re fragile, maybe it’s an oncology patient Whoever wants it must be able to wear the mask in peace – warns the virologist – without being looked at badly, as unfortunately often happens in this phase of minimization”. (by Paola Olgiati)
#manage