The floods that hit southern Bahia and left at least 24 dead, in addition to having affected 629,000 people, “will bring terrible health consequences”, as warned by epidemiologist Paulo Lotufo, in an interview with CNN Radio.
“After these floods, we have diseases such as leptospirosis, which is transmitted by rats and has a relatively high lethality. Aedes aegypti”, he explained.
Lotufo highlighted that food insecurity for people in the region is also a concern, with their susceptibility to other health problems. “So we’ve got the perfect storm going.”
Flu surge
Paulo Lotufo also expressed concern about the influenza outbreak, with the H3N2 variant, which, according to him, is already present in practically all states.
“Fortunately, we are on school holidays, but we have people who are very sick, and the disease affects more young people, children and pregnant women,” he said.
Photos – See the damage caused by the rains in Bahia
According to the epidemiologist, “all units at the University of São Paulo hospital are filled with cases of influenza in the emergency department.”
He recalls that the month of December usually has an empty pediatric ward, as respiratory diseases happen in winter. “Now we are having influenza A, even in newborns, we are in a very difficult situation in terms of pressure from health systems.”
Reference: CNN Brasil
