In recent weeks, in addition to Covid-19, another virus that is plaguing Brazil is Influenza. Doctors interviewed by CNN: Jamal Suleiman, an infectious disease specialist at the Emílio Ribas Institute, and David Uip, an infectious disease physician and professor at the ABC School of Medicine, detail the reasons for both diseases to get stronger this year and that there will be an overload in health services without vaccination .
Suleiman says that the off-season seasonality was an expected story, “respiratory transmission viruses have the characteristic of propagation when there are clusters [o que costuma ocorrer nas festas de fim de ano] and in places where people suspend barrier methods like the mask”.
Uip also explains that people can get Covid-19 and Influenza at the same time. “And if people don’t get vaccinated and take care, there will be an overload on health care services.”
The City Hall of São Paulo, through the Municipal Health Department (SMS), informs that the network has registered a significant increase in the demand for care at health units for people with flu-like symptoms.
In November 2021, the SMS recorded a total of 111,949 visits to people with flu-like symptoms, 56,220 of which were suspected of Covid-19. This month, until Wednesday (22), the SMS registers a total of 184,460 consultations with respiratory conditions, 84,753 of which were suspected of Covid-19.
Suleiman says that the difference between the flu and Covid-19 is that Influenza usually has a more acute and intense picture (high fever and muscle pain), “so, the best time to do the detection test is the second day of symptoms”.
The coronavirus, points out the infectologist at Instituto Emílio Ribas, starts with milder symptoms and usually worsens around the fifth day. “But some clinical variants can be different,” he argues.
For him, the most opportune dates to perform the Covid-19 test is between the first and third day of symptoms. “If the person is vaccinated, from the fifth day onwards, it becomes more difficult to find the agent in the body”, he explains. “If you are not with the immunizing agent, the interval is longer”.
Both claim that if someone feels symptoms and does not know if they have Influenza or coronavirus, the best option is to stay at home, so that any of the viruses do not spread, and seek medical services to have the correct diagnosis.
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Reference: CNN Brasil
