Influenza syndrome cases grow 135% in Brazil and reach 25 states

The number of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) cases grew 135% in Brazil in the comparison between the last three weeks of November and the last three weeks of this year, according to the Fiocruz’s InfoGripe bulletin released this Saturday (15), from 5,600 to 13,000. There are already 25 states with an influenza outbreak. Data were not released for more than a month due to the “blackout” that made access to information about the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil unfeasible. “The speed with which Covid-19 spreads among the population grew, weekly, from 4% to 30%”, said researcher Marcelo Gomes, responsible for InfoGripe.

The bulletin shows growth in the number of SARS cases in all age groups from 10 years old. The increase would be a consequence of both the flu epidemic and the resumption of growth in the number of Covid-19 cases. In the states The publication reveals that 25 of the 27 federative units show signs of growth in the number of cases. Rio de Janeiro, although showing stability in the long-term trend, has signs of bullishness in the short term. Only Roraima has stability. The other states have signs of growth in the number of cases of flu syndrome in the long term, with a probability greater than 95%. They are: Acre, Alagoas, Amazonas, Amapá, Bahia, Ceará, Federal District, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Paraná, Rio Grande do Norte , Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe and Tocantins. Only Amazonas and Rondônia show signs of stability in the short-term trend.

“Practically all the states showed signs of growth. The maintenance of data disclosure during this period it would certainly have given the population better conditions to make decisions appropriate to the epidemiological moment”, highlighted the InfoGripe coordinator. According to the bulletin, 24 of the 27 capitals show signs of an increase in the number of cases in the long term, except for Boa Vista, Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro. In Aracaju, Belém, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Campo Grande, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Goiânia, João Pessoa, Macapá, Maceió, Manaus, Natal, Palmas, Porto Velho, Recife, Rio Branco, Salvador, São Luís, São Paulo and Vitória, the trend is greater than 95%. Age group There was an increase in the number of cases of flu syndrome in all age groups from 10 years old. The increase was not observed only in the 0 and 9 years old range, which presented an interruption of the growth that had been maintained since October. Between 10 and 19 years old, it is possible that the country has already reached values ​​similar to those recorded in the peaks of March and May 2021.

Regarding children aged 0 at 9 years, laboratory results indicate a predominance of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), with an increase in cases of influenza A between November and December. “At the end of December, a period in which data are still partial due to the opportunity to enter cases and laboratory results, there is also a return of cases of Sars-CoV-2 [Covid-19]”, explained the researcher. In all age groups, there was a significant increase in the number of cases associated with the influenza A virus (flu) between November and December – the number of Covid-19 records was exceeded in a few weeks. However, data for the end of December and the first week of January point to the predominance of Covid-19. In the child population, there was also a trend towards an increase in the number of positive cases for Covid-19.

“This fact makes it essential to resume actions to raise awareness of the disease. population and risk minimization, to mitigate the impact throughout the beginning of 2022”, highlighted Marcelo Gomes. Covid-19 Laboratory data by state show that the influenza A epidemic in Rio de Janeiro was rapidly spreading to the rest of the country. As for the resumption of growth in the number of SRAGs associated with Covid-19, the bulletin indicates a reversal from the second half of December in several states. However, in some states in the North and Northeast of Brazil, Covid-19 remained high throughout the end of the year. Amapá, Maranhão and Pará have shown an upward trend in the number of cases since October and November.