The city of São Paulo is facing an outbreak of flu cases in recent days, according to the municipal secretary of Health, Edson Aparecido. Authorities suspect that the significant increase is explained by a variant of the flu, the H3N2 virus.
In an interview with CNN, Francisco Balestrin, president of the Union of Hospitals, Clinics, Laboratories and Other Health Establishments of the State of São Paulo (SindHosp), informed that there was an increase of approximately 40% in the number of people going to emergency rooms in the capital of São Paulo with flu-like symptoms .
In the first fortnight of this month, cases of respiratory care have already surpassed the suspicions of Covid-19. There were 46,557 cases of respiratory problems and 45,325 suspected coronaviruses.
Secretary Edson Aparecido informed the anchor of the CNN, Marcela Rahal, that the vaccines applied in São Paulo were to fight the H1N1 virus and that, for the H3N2, another immunizing agent is needed.
This Wednesday (15), the Butantan Institute announced that it is already preparing to update the flu vaccine as of January.
“Something we are already monitoring and we should start to see is this outbreak – and it is an outbreak, not an epidemic – also spreading throughout the interior of the state of São Paulo, given that infected people are with wide circulation”, declared the president of SindHosp.
He pointed out that the data indicate that “we are at the beginning of this whole process [do surto de gripe]”. Francisco Balestrin recalls that these outbreaks usually last from three to four months, but it is not yet possible to determine this period in relation to the current outbreak.
“We need to insist that people take care of themselves, with all the hygiene measures, hand washing and, more than ever, the use of masks”, he concluded.
Reference: CNN Brasil
