“I'm not going to work today. I've been feeling bad for a few days. I was so tired that I had a fever last night. It was tested for COVID-19 and was negative. “Fabian R. Fabian in the bed of his house in Villa Crespo looks like hundreds of Argentines with a new influenza infection or flu that seems to have arrived earlier this year.
Although Ómicron coronavirus strains are spreading throughout the country, other viruses generally affect autumn and winter, affecting more people in the middle of summer. It is the influenza virus (also known as the influenza virus), as warned by the Ministry of Health a few days ago.
Since 2020, after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been fewer cases of seasonal influenza than in the previous year. “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, influenza virus activity has remained low,” said the official warning. Argentina”. However, from the first week of December until now, the number of cases of influenza, especially influenza A H3N2, has increased. In general, the number of seasonal influenza cases in Argentina increases between April and October each year. Not January, February, and March.
“The landscape has changed significantly between last summer and the current summer,” said Teresa Varela, director of epidemiological surveillance and outbreak control at the Department of Health in Buenos Aires, Infopay. “The landscape has changed dramatically between last summer and the current summer,” said Teresa Varela, director of epidemiological surveillance and outbreak control at the beginning of this year. “The flu season, which usually begins after March, is approaching,” said the official.
“We have identified a rare increase in H3N2 influenza cases by this time. This is what really happened in countries in regions like Brazil. We have the commitment of the National Ministry of Health that the vaccine will arrive by the end of the month and that we can start vaccinating against influenza, starting with the health workers and organizations that are most at risk.” “, said Nicolas Kripak, head of the Department of Health in Buenos Aires.
CABA has also recorded an increase in influenza cases in recent weeks and has confirmed that influenza vaccination will begin next month because influenza occurs earlier than usual. “Patents have changed, virus behavior has changed.
This year, we found in February and March the proportion of patients with respiratory diseases and severe fever that are more related to the influenza virus, the influenza virus,” said the Minister of Health Fernanderos at a regular press conference last Thursday, told the city of Buenos Aires.
“We imagine that throughout this year everything will return as quickly as it used to be, but we have actually found a certain number of major influenza cases throughout the year.” I added that.
Considering the cases of influenza detected this summer according to the age of those affected, the most common cases were those that were ranked second in the first place among children under 5 years of age and adolescents between 25 and 34 years of age. The flu did not have the same impact across the country. The jurisdictions where the largest amount of samples were recorded are Buenos Aires, Salta, Santa Fe, Tucuman and Buenos Aires.
Influenza, which is a highly contagious respiratory viral disease in most cases, has mild symptoms with symptoms such as fever, cough, nasal congestion, sore throat, head and muscle pain. However, some people may experience complications such as shortness of breath and pneumonia that require hospitalization. In Argentina, two people died of influenza in the second week of February.
Why did flu cases increase in midsummer?
According to Infobae, infectologist Pablo Bonvehi, director of infectious diseases at CEMIC, “The increase in influenza cases can be explained by several factors. Other countries in South America, such as Chile, Peru, Colombia and Brazil, have also increased cases with a subtype of influenza A H3N2 ″.
The expert, who is a member of the Vaccine Committee of the Argentine Infectious Diseases Society and the Scientific Committee of the Vaccine Foundation, added: “Currently, it is not normal for the influenza virus to spread. It was also not normal for the virus to spread in 2020 and 2021, when the coronavirus cycle prevailed. Now, influenza of type A H3N2 has begun to spread and has become widespread in the northern hemisphere. Of course, this change is related to the fact that there are no other restrictions on traveling abroad. People who have not been in contact with the influenza virus in the past two years are more likely to get infected. There are also more cases of bronchiolitis and those affected by other respiratory viruses.”
At the same time, Lida Josie, from the Communications Committee of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases, explained to Infobae: “During the first two years of the pandemic, large-scale COVID-19 prevention measures such as wearing masks, confinement, spacing, ventilation, etc. have helped to reduce the spread of influenza virus and other respiratory viruses worldwide. “However, since the end of last year, after vaccination against COVID-19, the movement of citizens has become stronger, and blood circulation has recovered the influenza virus,” said an infectious doctor at Olivos Clinic and Santa Rosa Hospital.
According to Dr. Gozi, the warnings of health authorities are linked to globalization through travel, which could lead to more cases of influenza A H3N2 in the northern hemisphere and the immediate emergence of the influenza virus in South America. “The important thing is epidemiological and genomic surveillance, and people who have been vaccinated against influenza receive appropriate doses, such as children under 2 years of age, children over 65 years of age and other children with risk factors.” He said.
-19
Fever, dry cough, sore throat or chest pain, and shortness of breath are some of the symptoms that may indicate COVID-19 symptoms. However, this is not the only one, and these symptoms are not inherent in this disease. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and fatigue. However, there are many other signs and symptoms.
Both COVID-19 and colds are caused by viruses. COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, while colds are mostly caused by nasal viruses. These viruses spread similarly, causing many of the same signs and symptoms.However, there are some differences.
According to Mayo Clinic experts, COVID-19 symptoms usually appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to SARS-CoV-2, but cold symptoms usually appear 1 to 3 days after exposure to the virus that causes the common cold.
Unlike COVID-19, colds are often harmless. Most people recover from a cold in 3 to 10 days, but some colds can last up to 2 to 3 weeks.
On the other hand, to differentiate COVID-19 from allergies, among the most common symptoms of this type of condition that is not transmitted from person to person are itching, runny nose, sneezing, coughing and eye irritation.
The main difference between an allergy and a virus is fever. In this sense, body temperature above 38° C may indicate the presence of the virus.Similarly, common allergies do not cause sudden loss of smell and taste, which are characteristic symptoms of COVID-19.
COVID-19 can also cause shortness of breath or shortness of breath, but seasonal allergies generally do not cause these symptoms unless you have a respiratory disease such as asthma.
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