Elena Babur: flu and covid require specific treatment

In the Kaliningrad region, the incidence of seasonal viral infections is growing.

As of December 3, 2022, the diagnosis of influenza was laboratory confirmed in 55 patients who were ill and sought medical help with symptoms of intoxication and catarrhal phenomena. Among the sick - 31 children, reports the Office of Rospotrebnadzor in the Kaliningrad region.

it is noted that all patients were not vaccinated against influenza, mainly due to refusal to vaccinate. The proportion of influenza A H1N1 viruses is 98.2%, influenza B was confirmed in one case. Note that the influenza A virus serotype is the most common type of influenza that causes the largest epidemics.

“The circulating activity of the H1N1 influenza virus is much higher. If earlier they started to live with the flu in late January - early February, now in November - December. This has never happened before. Currently, there are already more than 60 cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza in the population, half of them are children. In the Kaliningrad region in 2009 there were many cases of hospitalization of children with severe bronchitis and pneumonia, deaths of pregnant women with H1N1 influenza. Then they were not ready for a new strain, now it has become part of the vaccine against this insidious disease, - Elena Babur, HEAD of the Rospotrebnadzor Office for the Kaliningrad Region, said at a meeting with reporters on Monday, December 5, at a meeting with reporters.

In the region, the vaccination campaign against influenza has been completed. A total of 565,959 people were vaccinated, including 133,117 children. Vaccination coverage of the total population is 55.5%. Vaccination of risk groups (healthcare workers and employees of education, transport, housing and communal services, older people and people with chronic diseases) reached 75% coverage.

“We have to be prepared that people with influenza A H1N1 may end up with pneumonia in a hospital bed in a hospital setting. The danger of influenza is that after a few months, a heart attack or stroke may develop against the background of the disease, as this viral infection becomes a kind of trigger for the development of a new disease. Recently, the number of community-acquired pneumonia has increased, 107 cases were registered last week. A week earlier, there were 80 such cases. Typically, pneumonia is caused by a virus and a subsequent bacterial infection. We also observe an increase in the number of people seeking medical care with respiratory viral infections, most of them are children under six years of age and primary school age. Basically, they have quite severe forms of laryngitis and bronchitis,” said Babur.

As the chief sanitary DOCTOR of the region noted, when the increase in the incidence of influenza is combined with the circulation of covid-19 , the situation becomes much more complicated. Currently, the situation with CORONAVIRUS infection is restless, the level of hospitalization of patients has increased. Elena Babur strongly recommends that in case of clinical signs of the disease, contact a doctor who should take an analysis for COVID-19. Influenza and covid infection require a different protocol for treating the disease.

Disease prevention is very important. Experts recommend reducing the time spent in crowded places, using a mask in transport and in rooms with a large number of people, avoiding contact with people with signs of illness, regularly washing hands thoroughly with soap and water, using disinfectants, and ventilating rooms.

Earlier, RBC Kaliningrad wrote that in the Kaliningrad region, specialists from the regional Rospotrebnadzor laboratory confirmed more than 30 cases of swine flu (A H1N1).