March 9, 2023, 9:52 PM
March 9, 2023, 9:52 PM
Millions of people have been affected by post-covid syndrome in the world, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Thursday, which recommends “continue vaccinating” to prevent it.
Studies have shown that “between 10 and 20% of people infected due to the virus they can develop symptoms known as post-acute or post-covid, Sylvain Aldighieri, head of incidents for covid-19 at PAHO, explained at a press conference.
“Basing those numbers on a conservative estimated incidence of 10% of people infected, we have millions of people around the world who have had that condition at some point after an acute infection or have present symptoms,” he explained.
Symptoms can appear after a month, or even three, and stay, added Marcos Espinal, assistant director of PAHO, office for the American continent of the World Health Organization (WHO). He clarifies that they are very diverse: from fatigue to lung, neurological problems or mental health.
“The key to preventing this syndrome is basically to continue vaccinating,” with the recommended doses and boosters, says Espinal.
“The important thing is to end the pandemic” and “it is confirmed that if we do not get vaccinated the risk is much greater to develop post-covid syndrome,” he warns.
As a public health problem, the postcovid has mobilized the scientific community.
According to Aldighieri, some therapies have been effective for certain conditions and are currently being carried out 33 clinical trials on treatment but “more large-scale studies are needed.”
In the same press conference, the director of PAHO, Jarbas Barbosa, warned that the danger persists although the situation is “much better”, with a “incidence of covid-19 between 20 and 30 times lower than that of a year ago”.
With 71%, “The Americas is now the region with the second highest level of vaccination coverage in the world” against covid-19, he reported. But the disease “is still with us and the virus has yet to settle into a predictable pattern.”
“We are already out of the most acute phase” but “everything can change, for example if we have a new variant, which is why it is very important to consider that the pandemic has not yet ended,” insists Barbosa, who recommends “continuing to vaccinate to save lives, and maintaining vigilance in all countries to identify changes in transmission trends”.
Vaccines “are excellent for preventing severe forms and deaths, but they still do not have the capacity to completely prevent circulation,” stressed the PAHO director, who reported plus 1.5 million new cases and 17,000 deaths in the last month in the American continent.
