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How did the coronary artery “disappear” from the flu? Will it be the same next year? How will the new influenza vaccine be prepared?
The phenomenon, although expected, for many scientists remains unprecedented, since from September 2020 until today and after 15 years of observation and reporting, this year they did not isolate the influenza virus in their laboratories.
During this year’s influenza surveillance for the 2020-2021 period (which began the week of September 28, 2020), both at the European level and in Greece, influenza activity to date remained at low levels for the season.
“It is characteristic that the National Laboratory for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses has not confirmed the presence of the influenza virus in any clinical sample,” said Dr. Thanos Kossyvakis, molecular biologist at the Hellenic Institute and Research Institute, at the Athens- Macedonia News agency and other respiratory viruses of southern Greece.
Did the more than 4 million flu vaccines made this year or other factors “wipe” flu viruses off the map?
“The pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2 virus seems to have affected, in general, visits to health centers. In addition, the confinement, the flu vaccine that made a much larger part of the population and the use of a mask they built a wall to protect the population against the flu, ”says Mr. Kossivakis, speaking to Michalis Kefalogiannis.
According to him, all the measures to stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic virus “seem to have” disappeared “the cases of influenza. As he emphasizes, it is possible that this scenario will be repeated next year, if it is necessary to take restrictive measures. “Much will depend on the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine, given that the influenza vaccine for the upcoming 2021-2022 winter season will be designed based on the few influenza strains isolated in the 2020-2021 winter season,” added.
It is observed that at the European level, between week 40 of 2020 and 8 of 2021, based on data from the Sentinel networks, the presence of influenza viruses was confirmed in 33 clinical samples of the 25,606 examined, in total (percentage positive 0.1%). In comparison, during the same period, in the last 6 years, on average, the presence of influenza viruses was confirmed in 14,966 clinical samples among the 39,407 examined, in total (38% positivity rate).
Does the extremely low flu activity data confirm the contribution to the protection of public health of the measures implemented for the coronavirus?
Yes it is the answer of Mr. Kossyvakis as “the use of a mask, the measures of physical distancing, that is to say, the distances and avoidance of the coloration indoors, as well as the personal hygiene and the cleaning-disinfection of spaces, surfaces objects, contribute to the restriction of the transmission of influenza viruses.
“Non-pharmaceutical interventions, therefore, build a wall of protection against contaminated droplets, through which airborne transmission of respiratory viruses takes place. Influenza and the SARS-CoV-2 virus are transmitted from one person to another. when a patient coughs, sneezes or talks and spreads the virus in the air in the form of tiny, invisible droplets. “However, the most effective way to prevent it is to get vaccinated with the antiviral vaccine, which, when administered correctly and in a timely manner, protects against the transmission of viruses and helps protect against serious complications “, concludes the professor.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
