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The flu is almost gone. It seems so, at least for now. In the last week (December 14-20) the surveillance Influnet, coordinated byHigher Institute of Health (Iss), has been registered almost 104 thousand cases of influenza syndrome, with an incidence value per thousand assisted of well below the seasonal epidemic threshold (set at 3.16 cases per thousand attended): 1.7 vs 4.2 compared to the same week in 2019. In total, since the surveillance began (mid-October), it has been estimated about 1.2 million citizens who have contracted the flu. The most affected age group was 0 to 4 years old. “Surely anticovid prevention measures, such asuse of masks, social distancing and hand washing, have drastically reduced the spread of influenza viruses, which are transmitted by air, but the surveillance system is still incomplete, few doctors can send the data, many laboratories are closed “, underlines the specialist in infectious diseases of the Sacco hospital in Milan, Massimo galli. Not a negligible problem. Due to the Covid emergency, Province of Bolzano and Trento, Sardinia, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria they have not activated tracking and are not sending data. “In the past we have asked the Regions for at least two percent coverage of the population, while this year we have raised the percentage to four percent, to ensure better representativeness and being able to monitor the spread of Sars-Cov2 at a more general level, which has many flu-like symptoms, “he explains. Antonino Bella, responsible for Influnet. However, despite the reminders to the Regions (which should encourage medical candidates to send their patient data, possibly also against a monetary fee), Bella continues, “the average coverage of the national territory is still in the two percent. We need to maintain high attention in the territory, because with the same monitoring tool we control the spread of influenza viruses and the new coronavirus“But the surveillance system has suffered a backlash across Europe. The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Ecdc) denounced it in the latest flu bulletin. The Covid pandemic, writes theEcdc, has had a negative impact on the monitoring of influenza infections, and if the coronavirus emergency continues, these data must necessarily be interpreted with caution.
Although the flu season has just started (the peak is usually expected between the end of January and the first week of February) “it seems that what has already happened in the southern hemisphere is happening,” Bella concludes, “therefore, we expect a trend mild infections “. So far, in the laboratories belonging to the Influnet network, of 951 clinical samples analyzed, none have tested positive for the influenza virus while 154 have tested positive for Sars-Cov2. It is unknown how much the flu vaccination campaign has affected. “We do not know how many citizens have been vaccinated at this time, there may also be an effect of vaccines in decreasing the circulation of influenza”, the infectious specialist Galli does not rule it out. The Influnet manager adds that “for four months there have not even been cases of measles and rubella“A historical disappearance.
One gets sick even less than other very serious infectious diseases such as meningitis. “Around 70 percent fewer cases of invasive meningococcal diseases, Haemophilus influenzae and pneumococcus have been reported than in the same period of 2019,” he announces to fattoquotidiano.it Paola stefanelli, Director of the Department of Vaccine Preventable Diseases of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the ISS. These three bacteria can cause clinical pictures of sespi, pneumonia and meningitis. “It does not mean that these diseases have disappeared, we must always keep our guard up and consolidate data collection in the territory” warns the virologist from the ISS. Other viruses hardly circulate among children anymore. “There’s a very strong reduction of bronchiolitis, whooping cough and all forms of adenoviruses and parainfluenza viruses that cause laryngitis, notes Alberto Villani, director of infectious diseases at the Bambin Gesù hospital and president of the Italian Pediatric Society -. Generally, at this time of year we are forced to limit scheduled hospitalizations to accommodate children affected by influenza and respiratory viruses. The use of the mask – Villani points out – has had a decisive influence and we have understood that the school is not the place of contagion. The real problem – he adds – are people’s behaviors, not the mutations of the new coronavirus, because it is normal for a virus to change in order to survive.
The national secretary of Federfarma, Roberto Tobia, confirms the sharp drop in sales of drugs for the treatment of flu symptoms: “The demand for sore throat or nose sprays, cough syrups, antipyretics. However, unfortunately we sell more antidepressants than before ”. Assosalute, the national association for self-medication (including over-the-counter medications for the simple flu), gives us a sneak peek from its president Enrico Allievi, estimates “by the end of the year a contraction of around five percent of the self-medication market.” “For the category of cough and sore throat – he specifies – the hypothesized decrease will be ten percent, while for analgesics 1.5”.
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