Faced with the increase in cases of covid-19, international health authorities are on alert. The registration of new cases of the disease has to do with the emergence of new subvariants of Ômicron, BQ.1 and XBB. According to the first studies, they may be more transmissible and resistant to vaccine barriers.
The most recent InfoGripe Fiocruz Bulletin, released last Thursday (10), signals an increase in cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) with positive laboratory results for Covid-19 in the adult population of Amazonas, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Grande do Sul and São Paulo.
According to the coordinator of InfoGripe, Marcelo Gomes, it is still not possible to say that this growth is specifically related to the recent identifications of new sublines identified in some parts of the country.
In some states, the sign is clearer in age groups 18 and older. The exception is Rio Grande do Sul, which shows this trend only in the age groups over 60 years old.
“As laboratory data take longer to enter the system, it is expected that the numbers of cases from recent weeks will be higher than what was observed in this update, and may even increase the total of states in such a situation”, said the researcher from the Fiocruz.
Children
When the cut was made by capitals, Fiocruz identified a greater predominance in children. The exceptions are Manaus, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, which show growth in age groups over 60 years.
According to the doctor Werciley Júnior, coordinator of Infectious Diseases at Santa, in Brasília, children should be an important focus of attention. “Although the disease in children is normally a mild form, we have two aspects. The first is that in them, when the form is severe, there is a high mortality rate. The other is that children are carriers of the virus into the home. If they are immunized, they will greatly decrease their ability to transmit,” he warned.
Also according to the infectious disease doctor, although so far the cases in the country are mild, positive records are of particular concern among the unvaccinated. The expert pointed out that the great fear of the medical community and health authorities is that this variant will undergo a new mutation and completely escape the vaccine causing serious diseases.
“We know that the vaccination rate more or less stopped at two doses. People are not taking the third dose that there has been a gigantic reduction”, he observed, adding that this public can develop severe forms of the disease.
According to the doctor, the vaccine has two important points. The first one is to protect people so that whoever has the disease develops the mild form.
The other point is that, with antibodies brought by the vaccine “even if partially working”, the infected patient decreases the viral load and cannot transmit the virus to the same amount of people that he transmitted without the immunization.
Protection
In addition to vaccination, the infectologist recommended that people with comorbidities return to wearing face protection masks, avoid agglomerations and, in case of suspicion, take the test to avoid contamination of other people.
