Flu season is here … there is pressure for PCR testing

With the sudden change in weather, the winter season “officially” arrived yesterday, and with it the “seasonal flu season.” Therefore, theoretically, starting today, it will be difficult for clinicians to differentiate clinically between influenza symptoms and “Corona” symptoms, who will have to resort to further analysis and laboratory tests to reach the desired diagnosis. . In practice, this means that many people with influenza (and those who will become infected) must undergo PCR testing to arrive at the correct diagnosis and provide the appropriate treatment.

A member of the National Infectious Diseases Committee, Abd al-Rahman al-Bizri explained to “Al-Akhbar” that both viruses belong to respiratory viruses, and they have similar symptoms such as cough, headache, heat and shortness of breath, “but in the case of Covid-19, the patient loses the sense of smell and taste, in addition to the fact that the Corona virus is not a virus Seasonality, which makes it take another curve from the rest of the viruses ”, indicating the need for the patient to perform two PCR tests, one for influenza and the second for “Corona,” which means “double the cost in tough economic conditions.”
Al-Bizri indicated that there is the option of resorting to multiple PCR tests, which “can diagnose different types of viruses. But the experience in this field is still limited and the information obtained on this technology is not entirely safe ”.
A major importer of PCR tests confirmed that various screening kits “are available in limited quantities in some major hospitals … and the majority of currently approved PCR tests are exclusively related to the diagnosis of Covid 19 disease.”
Regardless of the nature of the method used to obtain the required diagnosis, the conclusion is the same and it means more health costs for both the citizen and the medical sector. “The truth is that the winter season can bring surprises,” says Al-Bizri, noting that “it is not yet known how respiratory viruses will behave with each other, and if they will exacerbate their exposure to each other or interact in a way that reduces their impact”. And he highlighted the need to adopt the current influenza vaccine “to alleviate the anticipated pressure on the hospital sector already confused by the epidemic crisis, because it is capable of protecting 50% of those infected with influenza and preventing them from entering hospitals.”

Many people with influenza will need two PCR scans for the predicted diagnosis

Lebanon is known to suffer from a shortage of seasonal influenza vaccines. According to the head of the Pharmacists Union, Ghassan Al-Amin, the third batch of vaccines (estimated at 300,000 vaccines) has not yet arrived. Some 160,000 vaccines have reached Lebanon, much of which was assigned to hospitals. As for the pharmacies, limited quantities were distributed to them, ranging between 8 and 10 vaccines per pharmacy.
Faced with this shortage, the World Health Organization recommends that priority be given to the provision of vaccines for the elderly and medical personnel, who still register more injuries in their ranks, and the Ministry of Health announced yesterday that 1,888 injured (only one of them are imported), nine of which are in the health sector. The total number of wounded in the Gaza Strip is 1,448). Nine new deaths were also recorded, bringing the total deaths to 676.
The Ministry of Health issued a memorandum related to the seasonal influenza vaccine, in which it identified the groups most vulnerable to complications, namely: children between the ages of six months and five years, people over the age of sixty, people who suffer from chronic diseases, especially lung diseases, including asthma and cardiovascular disease. Hematological, kidney and liver failure (…), people with cancerous diseases, pregnant women and health sector workers.

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