The coordinator of the São Paulo Health Surveillance Coordination (Covisa), Luiz Artur Vieira Caldeira, told the CNN this Wednesday (15) that the next few days in the city of São Paulo will be a warning due to an increase in flu cases in the capital.
“The certainty today is the increase in cases of respiratory viruses unrelated to Covid-19. That worries, turns on the alert light, people have to double their personal care: use of mask, hand hygiene, avoid crowding”, he said.
According to him, so many cases of respiratory symptoms were not expected at this time of year and, because of that, the capital of São Paulo is facing an “atypical situation”.
“Since the month of August, as the number of Covid-19 cases in the capital fell, cases of respiratory virus infections from other viruses rose more slowly. In December, the search for people with respiratory symptoms in health, urgency and emergency units practically doubled. We do tests against Covid-19 in patients, but most test negative — this is mainly due to the vaccination in the capital”, he said.
“However, at an unexpected time, other viruses began to appear, including ‘influenza’. Most people have mild symptoms, common colds like the flu we’re used to, but we’re working to understand the virology of what we’re facing today.”
The governments of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo became alert after the announcement that the state of Rio de Janeiro and cities in the metropolitan region of the capital of Rio de Janeiro were facing an epidemic of the Influenza virus.
The state health departments informed the CNN that monitor the situation in Rio or demand a posture from the Ministry of Health.
Data may be dammed up
Caldeira, however, stressed that it is not yet possible to say that the increase in flu cases in the city of São Paulo is linked to the virus epidemic in Rio de Janeiro.
“We still don’t have subsidies to say the same thing here [uma epidemia como no Rio]. But the proximity to Rio de Janeiro puts us on alert for what could happen in the next few days,” he said.
According to him, there are still no formal subsidies to nail the information. He said that “the flaw in the federal system does not allow units to make notifications on time.”
“Influenza is not the main thing, as we still don’t have the information, formal subsidies, notifications and exams that came up in the system. This is due to some aspects, including the failure in the federal system that for about a week does not allow the units to make their notifications in time. We had this problem at the bank, which may have repressed the information, and it could be consolidated in the next few days”, he concluded.
Increase in flu cases in SP
On Tuesday (14), the municipal health secretary of the state of São Paulo, Edson Aparecido, told the CNN that the state is under an influenza virus outbreak.
The city hall of the capital noted a significant increase in people with flu-like illness in health facilities in recent weeks. In the entire month of November 2021, 111,000 people were attended with flu-like symptoms, 56 thousand of which were suspected of Covid-19.
In less than 15 days in December, there are already 91 thousand consultations with respiratory conditions, 45 thousand of which are suspected of Covid-19.
The government of the state of São Paulo also points out the instability of the federal systems as an obstacle to monitoring the situation. “In addition, the State of São Paulo borders Rio de Janeiro, where cases of Influenza are on the rise”, he says.
They say they “maintain 21 sentinel units to identify circulating respiratory viruses” and that “preliminary Influenza SRAG data available from SIVEP Flu for 2021, as of December 10, indicate 665 cases and 50 deaths. Last year, there were 713 cases and 54 deaths. In 2019, there were 1,693 cases and 288 deaths”.
Reference: CNN Brasil
