In the same week that the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) pointed out the increase in cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the adult population, caused mainly by Covid-19, the Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Networks (Abrafarma) identified, in its latest bulletin, an increase in positive tests for the disease in the country.
According to the association’s data, which cover the period between May 1st and 8th, there was a positivity rate of 19.86%. This is the highest index in the last three months, from the week of February 21 to 27 this year.
There were 89,090 tests carried out in the period, 17,697 of which were positive and 71,697 that did not identify the coronavirus. It is the sixth consecutive week of increase in the positivity rate, the fourth in which an increase was observed in the performance of exams in pharmacy, indicating the upward trend in cases of Covid-19 in Brazil.
In the first week of May, the highest positivity rates were in the states of Paraná (30%), Rio Grande do Sul (27%) and Santa Catarina (22%). São Paulo, which had the largest number of tests carried out in the period (28,897), recorded 17%, the fourth largest in the country.
Abrafarma also evaluated the percentage difference of positive tests in relation to the previous week analyzed. In this last bulletin, 17 of the 27 states had an increase in the positivity rate, two remained stable and only seven showed a decrease in this index (Tocantins, Sergipe, Piauí, Espírito Santo, Bahia, Amazonas and Alagoas).
Data from the Brazilian Association of Diagnostic Medicine (Abramed) show that in March, 265,917 Covid-19 tests were carried out in laboratories. Of these, 21,345 were positive, that is, 8%. In April, 156,149 tests were performed and 15,048 were positive, that is, a positivity rate of 9.6%.
Between the weeks from April 25th to May 1st and from May 2nd to 8th, the positivity rate of these exams went from 12.9% to 17.6%. In the first period, 44,095 tests were carried out and 5,678 were positive for Covid-19. In the first week of May, 47,803 were made and 8,420 confirmed the disease.
The cases of Covid-19 also raised an alert at Fiocruz. According to the latest InfoGripe bulletin released by the foundation, which carried out analyzes based on the data between May 1 and 7, 17 of the 27 federative units show a sign of growth in SARS cases in the long-term trend, mainly caused by the coronavirus.
For the coordinator of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Committee of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases (SBI), Marcelo Otsuka, this increase in positivity and case rates is no surprise. According to him, the pandemic is still not under control and there are many cases around the world, with a considerable increase in some countries.
“In no time, the pandemic was over. Ômicron and its variants have significantly increased the number of cases. In a way, we already imagined that this increase could occur here in Brazil, especially with the reduction of control measures, such as the use of masks, distancing. That is, it does not deviate from the expected”, pondered the infectologist.
Otsuka points out that there are still about 100 deaths a day in the country due to Covid-19 and that this is not a negligible number. He argues that it is necessary to improve vaccination coverage, noting that there are still inequalities in immunization coverage, with places where the rates of people vaccinated are low.
“The number of vaccinated children is still small, there are still many elderly people who have not had the 4th dose and it is known that, especially in this population, there is a drop in the immune response over time”, he warns.
“We need to move towards an update of vaccines. This has been studied and proposed by some laboratories. We hope that these updated vaccines also have the ability to protect the transmission of the virus and can act in mild cases of the disease. Protection currently is mainly in relation to severe cases. Viruses mutate. Our population is still immune to the coronavirus, unlike influenza,” Otsuka concluded.
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Source: CNN Brasil
