The incidence of cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in children increased in several Brazilian states during the month of February, according to the Infogripe Bulletin of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.
Preliminary laboratory data suggest an increase in cases associated with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in the age group 0-4 years, and an interruption of a fall in cases associated with Sars-CoV-2 (Covid -19) in the age group of 5 to 11 years.
Despite the increase in SARS cases in children, the document, released this Friday (04), highlights that, nationwide, the curve maintains a sign of a decline in SARS trends in adults in recent weeks.
According to laboratory data, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, is predominant in all age groups analyzed.
Only the state of Acre shows signs of growth in SARS cases in the long-term trend until Epidemiological Week 8 of 2022, period from 20 to 26 February.
The Federal District and Rio de Janeiro show signs of growth in the short-term trend (last three weeks). According to Marcelo Gomes, coordinator of the bulletin, this increase is fundamentally attributed to the sign of an increase in SARS cases in children in the month of February.
The analysis is based on data entered in the Influenza Epidemiological Surveillance System (Sivep-Gripe) until February 28.
“In the national aggregate, there is a scenario of decline in all age groups of the population, except for children from 0-4 to 5-11 years old, who show a sign of marked growth.
Preliminary laboratory data suggest that in the 0-4 age group, this may be associated with stopping the fall in Respiratory Syncytial Virus-associated cases. [VSR]”, observes researcher Marcelo Gomes, coordinator of InfoGripe.
Gomes explains that in the age group of 5-11 years, preliminary laboratory data suggest an interruption of the fall in positive results for Sars-CoV-2 (Covid-19), unlike what is observed in other age groups.
The InfoGripe coordinator also pointed out that at a time when children have not yet completed the vaccination cycle against Covid-19, the risk for them is relatively higher, even though cases in the general population are decreasing.
“Because of this, it is important that those responsible take their children to the vaccination posts and pay attention to the date for the second dose”, said Marcelo.
In addition, he drew attention to the importance of the entire population maintaining basic care, such as the use of good masks, especially in indoor environments such as stores, markets, classrooms and public transport, for example, and avoiding places with a lot of people, to reduce the risk of ending up taking the virus to the most vulnerable.
“This will also help protect against other respiratory viruses that are a major cause of hospitalization in young children, such as respiratory syncytial virus. Vaccination of the adult population has radically reduced the risk of severe cases, but the epidemic is still present.”
Eleven Federation Units have at least one health macro-region with a level of weekly SARS cases considered very high, totaling 29 of the country’s 118 health macro-regions. No macro-region has an extremely high level.
Regarding the Epidemiological Year 2022, 81,713 SARS cases have already been reported, of which 48,962 (59.9%) had a positive laboratory result for some respiratory virus, 19,257 (23.6%) negative, and at least 8,900 (10.9%) awaiting laboratory results.
Among the positive cases in the current year, 5.9% are Influenza A, 0.1% are Influenza B, 2.1% are respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and 87.6% are Sars-CoV-2 (Covid-19). In the last four epidemiological weeks, the prevalence among positive cases was 0.6% Influenza A, 0.1% Influenza B, 3.0% respiratory syncytial virus, and 90.1% Sars-CoV-2 (Covid-19). ).
The Bulletin also draws attention to the fact that, with the advancement of vaccination coverage in the adult population, the age groups of 60 years and over (60-69, 70-79 and 80 years or more) are again the groups with the highest weekly incidence of cases. and deaths from SARS with a positive RT-PCR result for Sars-CoV-2.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the increase in new cases during the period of predominance of the Ômicron variant, which began at the end of 2021, resulted in the highest incidence recorded among children aged 0-4 and 5-11 years since the beginning of the epidemic.
“Among adolescents aged 12-17 years, a record close to the peak of May 2021 is also observed. Such situations may be associated with the fact that these age groups were just starting access to the vaccine at the end of 2021”, says the researcher.
Twenty-four federation units show signs of a decline in the long-term trend (last six weeks): Alagoas, Amazonas, Amapá, Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do South, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Paraná, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe and Tocantins.
The short-term trend in all these units points to a sign of stability or decline, except for the Federal District and Rio de Janeiro, where there has been a sign of growth in the last 3 weeks.
Twenty-six of the 27 Federation Units have at least one health macro-region with a high or higher level of weekly cases, and in 11 of the 27 FUs there is still at least one macro-region with a level considered very high. On the other hand, no FU has health macro-regions at a level considered extremely high.
Only one of the 27 capitals showed a sign of growth in the long-term trend (last 6 weeks) until Epidemiological Week 8 (from February 20 to 26, 2022): Rio Branco (AC). In another five, there was a sign of growth only for the short-term trend (last 3 weeks): Boa Vista (RR), Natal (RN), Porto Alegre (RS), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), and São Paulo (SP) ).
According to Gomes, in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, data by age group suggest a significant increase concentrated in children and adolescents (0-9 and 10-19 years).
In other capitals, the signal is still compatible with oscillation after a fall has stopped, although in Natal (RN) it is recommended to monitor the situation of the elderly in particular.
According to community transmission indicators, three capitals are part of health macro-regions that start to present an incidence of weekly cases below the level considered high, and no capital is found in an extremely high macro-region.
Source: CNN Brasil
