Amid the rise in Covid and influenza cases in Brazil, private laboratories in the state of São Paulo have few tests to detect these diseases and face problems replenishing stocks.
According to a survey by SindHosp (Union of Hospitals, Clinics and Laboratories of São Paulo), given the current demand, 55% of private institutions have enough tests for up to seven days, and 16% indicate that the stock may run out within 8 to 14 days.
The SindHosp report, which gathered data from 111 private laboratories, also points out that 88% are struggling to replenish the stock of Covid and influenza tests.
Among institutions, 99% say that, in the last 15 days, there was an increase in coronavirus testing and 92%, in the search for influenza test. Laboratories in the Jacareí and São José do Rio Preto region report an increase of 501% to 1,000% in Covid testing.
According to the SindHosp report, adults aged 30 to 50 are the ones who most receive a positive diagnosis of Covid. Next comes the age group from 51 to 59 years old and then from 19 to 29 years old.
The survey also points out that 79% of private establishments in São Paulo found cases of “flurona” (coinfection of influenza and Covid).
The high demand for exams impacts the detection of coronavirus in the country. According to a Datafolha survey, 8.1 million Brazilians say they have not been able to find tests for the disease in pharmacies or health facilities in the last 30 days.
The risk of shortage of Covid tests comes at a time when there is a projection of an escalation of cases, with estimates that Brazil could reach 1.3 million infections per day.
According to a survey by Datafolha, 1 in 4 Brazilians aged 16 or over say they have received a positive diagnosis of Covid since the beginning of the pandemic, which represents about 42 million infected people.
Abramed (Brazilian Association of Diagnostic Medicine), last week, recommended that laboratories prioritize testing in patients with more severe symptoms.
This Saturday (15), the City of São Paulo began to limit the performance of RT-PCR and antigen tests for Covid-19 and the flu to people at risk.
Survey made by leaf had already shown that, even in pharmacies, there is a waiting list of up to five days for testing.
The lack of tests causes the country to have a data blackout on Covid, which makes it impossible to know the size of the wave of contamination driven by the omicron variant today.
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