One in every four people tested at the 469 UBSs (Basic Health Units) in the city of São Paulo tested positive for the influenza virus, according to data reported by the Municipal Health Department to leaf this Monday morning (3).
According to the city, between Thursday (30), when rapid testing for the virus began, and Friday (31), 5,321 tests were performed, with 26% positive for the influenza virus. “The data refer to the diagnosis of influenza A and B”, says the secretariat.
According to the folder, of those confirmed, 97% pointed to influenza A and 3% to type B.
Tests are carried out in the face of a surge in cases of flu. In December 2021, 286,858 consultations were registered for people with respiratory conditions, against 111,949 consultations for patients with flu-like symptoms in November, an increase of 156%.
Data from visits to the municipal health network also show that suspected cases of Covid-19 were triggered. In November there were 56,220, of the total number of patients with flu-like symptoms. Last month, there were 133,501 suspicions of the new coronavirus, an increase of 137.6%,
In the first three days of January, until the end of the morning of this Monday (3), 20,333 people with respiratory symptoms had been assisted, of which 11,585 were suspected of Covid-19.
The number of positive cases in rapid tests of Covid in pharmacies, which had plummeted in recent months, rose again during the holiday season, according to monitoring by Abrafarma (an association that brings together large pharmaceutical chains).
The total number of positives jumped from 524 on December 1st, when 10,000 tests were performed, to 5,334, out of a total of 31,332 tests performed on December 29th.
Cases of flu-like illnesses have filled health facilities since the second half of last month.
This Monday morning, at the Hospital Municipal da Brasilândia, in the northern region, which since December 18 has had beds reserved only for patients with Srags (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes), there were 114 people hospitalized in ICUs (Intensive Care Units) and 177 in nursery.
The cases of srags already represent 71.6% of the hospital’s occupation, which has a total of 406 beds and also admits patients with Covid-19.
Bulletin released on Sunday night by the secretariat points out that there were 540 patients with respiratory conditions monitored in municipal hospitals in the city of São Paulo.
The number of hospitalizations with flu already reaches 24.5% of the total of those caused by flu syndromes in the public network, according to data from the Covid-19 Panel of the Municipal Health Department for the epidemiological week from December 19 to 25.
Since last November 23, the city has resumed vaccination against the H1N1 virus, which has little effect on the current epidemic caused by Darwin, a variant of the H3N2 influenza.
The vaccine is being applied throughout the network. Mega-stations, drive-thrus and partner pharmacies are open from 8 am to 5 pm, and integrated UBSs and Amas/UBSs (Ambulatory Medical Assistance) from 7 am to 7 pm.
The flu epidemic has been registered for a few weeks in the capital of São Paulo. The department hopes that the campaign will reduce the number of people with flu-like symptoms who seek public health services.
Physician Renato Kfouri, director of SBIm (Brazilian Society of Immunizations), says that it is not recommended that a person who has already been vaccinated takes the same immunizing agent again and that it is necessary to wait for the new vaccination campaign, scheduled for April of next year.
The vaccine against H3N2 influenza should only be available from March onwards at private clinics.
Posts in the capital are also immunizing against Covid-19. According to the secretariat, it is possible to take both vaccines at once.
Stay tuned
According to the Municipal Health Department, the flu syndrome is characterized by a person with an acute respiratory condition, with at least two of the following signs and symptoms:
- fever
- chills
- sore throat
- headache
- cough
- runny nose
- olfactory disorders
- tasting riots
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