After almost three months of stability, the transmission rate of the new coronavirus again indicated a new growth of the disease in the country. A survey carried out by the Brazilian Association of Diagnostic Medicine (Abramed), an institution that represents diagnostic laboratories, shows that the positivity rate increased from 10.2% to 28.8% in just 30 days.
According to the InfoGripe Bulletin, from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), released on Thursday (26), approximately 48% of records of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) were due to the disease. In addition, 84% of SARS deaths are also related to the coronavirus.
Although the numbers refer to a period of seven days, the coordinator of InfoGripe, Marcelo Gomes, points out that this trend has been repeating itself for some time. “This propensity has been observed since the epidemiological week of April 24-30,” he explains, adding that “the estimate is 6,000 SARS cases in the epidemiological week of May 15-21.”
Gomes states that the growth in the number of SARS cases at the national level occurs mainly among the adult population and the young public. According to him, among young children up to 4 years of age, since February there has been an upward trend.
“In the adult population, the moving average of weekly cases increased by about 82% compared to what was observed at the beginning of April. In children, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains predominant. In the others, Covid-19 is the main cause among cases with laboratory identification”, he points out.
The bulletin coordinator notes that there are several factors that helped in the growth of cases, including relaxation with the use of a mask, the lack of adherence to the booster dose by the adult population and the period since the last peak of Covid-19, which took place between December and January.
“The almost total relaxation in relation to care, such as wearing a mask, had already led to this increase in SARS by other respiratory viruses in children in the months of February and March, due to the return to face-to-face classes. At the same time, we saw that people thought that there was no need to be careful, so all of that influences,” she says.
“Adults without a booster dose and the last peak of the coronavirus, which occurred 4 months ago, mean that the immunity is no longer so good. The booster dose was implemented because the data showed how important it was, especially against the Ômicron variant. It’s like the annual flu vaccine, which we don’t call a booster, but it’s basically the same logic,” says the researcher.
“It’s not saying that we should have kept all the measures during all this time, but at least wearing a mask on public transport, in closed places or with a lot of people, especially in the school environment”, he adds.
The president of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases (SBI), Alberto Chebabo, says that the increase in SARS cases in the winter period is normal, but highlights the need for surveillance for a possible increase in the number of cases compared to the last two years.
“The increase in cases was already expected and the expectation is that cases will increase more in the coming months due to winter. It is natural to have it after four months of the previous wave. Associated with this, we are entering the SARS seasonality period, which has increased every year, even before Covid. The only question we have to observe is whether the number of cases will be higher than the pre-pandemic period, which can be a fuss”, points out the president of SBI.
Vaccination in Brazil
The Ministry of Health informed the CNN that more than 83% of the population was vaccinated with the first dose and 76.7% with the second dose or single dose.
According to the ministry, the federal government has already distributed more than 487.7 million doses of vaccine against Covid-19 and about 48 million people are able to receive the booster dose. The ministry also recommends states and municipalities to actively search for the population to complete the vaccination schedule against Covid-19.
Chebabo also draws attention to the vaccination coverage of the booster dose, which is low for the Brazilian public. According to him, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of cases of Covid-19, but if people do not get immunized, it is possible that the cases will become serious.
“What is known is that the subvariant that is growing is BA.2. The vaccination of the booster dose is not enough, the ideal is that it reaches 70% to 80% so that people do not lose protection and that serious cases do not increase due to lack of vaccination”, he adds.
With information from Rayane Rocha and supervision by Helena Vieira
Basic care helps prevent respiratory diseases
Source: CNN Brasil
