SARS cases by Covid reach the lowest percentage of the pandemic

SARS cases (severe acute respiratory syndrome) attributed to Covid-19 decreased in Brazil and reached the lowest percentage of the pandemic. However, the rates of the syndrome in children continue to grow, points out the Infogripe Bulletin from Fiocruz released this Wednesday (6).

In the last four epidemiological weeks, which encompass the month of March, confirmed cases of Covid were about 50.7% of infections caused by respiratory viruses. In the previous bulletin, the figure was 63.5%, and just over a month ago it reached 90.1%.

In deaths, however, the presence of Sars-CoV-2 in recent epidemiological weeks remains high: 91.3%.

If the SARS data (which, as the name implies, indicate more serious cases of infections) referring to the total population bring some relief, those related to children go in the opposite direction. Since February, a period that, as the report recalls, coincides with the resumption of the school year, the incidence of SARS has shown signs of increasing. Fiocruz notes that there was an interruption in the drop in Covid cases in children, in addition to growth among other viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus (which causes bronchiolitis).

Since February, the period that the report recalls coincides with the resumption of the school year, the incidence of SARS has shown signs of increase, with respiratory syncytial virus growth, interruption of the fall of Covid, in addition to growth among other viruses.

In fact, the increase in SARS cases among children and adolescents leads to an upward trend in the syndrome in 11 federative units and in 13 capitals.

Thinking exclusively about SARS cases associated with Covid, children up to 4 years old still do not have vaccines against the disease available in Brazil and in other countries. In addition, vaccination coverage for children aged between 5 and 11 is not the highest. This age group was able to start being immunized in January this year and has 53.47% with the first dose and only 18.16% with the second.

Despite being less prone to complications and severe Covid, the younger ones ended up becoming a relatively unprotected slice of the population, as all other age groups have immunizations available.

A recent projection pointed out that accelerating the vaccination of young people aged 5 to 11 could prevent 5,400 hospitalizations and 430 deaths from Covid by April.

“The study also shows a gradual deceleration in the rate of decline in SARS cases among the adult population and entry into a stable regime. In contrast, the contribution of RSV-associated cases [vírus sincicial respiratório] continues to grow”, said researcher Marcelo Gomes, coordinator of InfoGripe, to Fiocruz de Notícias.

Despite the improvement in the situation, the bulletin points out that there are still 72 macro-regions in the country with a high level of weekly SARS cases, 20 at an epidemic level, two at a very high level and one at an extremely high level. In addition, another 23 are in a pre-epidemic situation. These levels are calculated based on the number of SARS cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Covid retracts in the Americas

As with general SARS cases and records in Brazil, Covid-19 infections and deaths have dropped in most countries and territories in the Americas in recent weeks, but the risk of further outbreaks cannot be ignored as restrictions are lifted. relaxed and 240 million people remain unvaccinated, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

“Many countries and territories in the Americas have reduced public health measures, and some have done so prematurely,” said PAHO Director Carissa Etienne, noting that case counts have increased recently in places that rely on tourism, especially in parts of America. North and Caribbean, where vaccination coverage is low.

The region continues to record more than 620,000 new cases each week, she told a news conference.

Etienne also noted that the number of deaths has increased in some countries, but adjustments to the data may account for part of these increases as some countries are reclassifying past deaths as Covid-19-related.

More than 685 million people have completed their vaccination cycles in the region, but “despite all our efforts, 240 million people in the Americas still have not received a single dose of Covid vaccine,” said Etienne.

The PAHO director stressed that countries need to continue monitoring the virus to “be prepared for what is to come”.

“This means making testing easily accessible to everyone everywhere, to prevent further outbreaks and to prepare our health systems if cases increase.”

_{With Gabriel Araujo and Steven Grattan of Reuters}