It will be the Christmas of hugs found and no longer broken. A new party for grandparents and grandchildren and friends of all ages, without the nightmare of the lockdown, the specter of loneliness, the forbidden dinners. An opportunity to rediscover the warmth of being together. With the approval of virologists and epidemiologists. Woe to comparing Covid to a cold, though. “It can be misleading,” warns Francesco Vaia, general manager of Spallanzani in Rome, the most important center for the treatment of infectious diseases in Italy, which has been committed to dealing with the emergency since the first hour.
The rules for the Christmas dinner
“We are gradually emerging from the critical pandemic phase, but we must not let our guard down,” he says. One figure above all: there are still 3-400 deaths per week “due to the high circulation of the virus and the presence of many unreported non-serious cases”, emerges from the monitoring of the Higher Institute of Health. Vaia clarifies that Covid cannot be compared to a cold, for several reasons. «First of all, it remains a disease that has a systemic imprint, that is capable of causing complex complications, even fatal, among the most fragile, the immunosuppressed, the vaccinated who do not produce a high number of antibodies and, obviously, the no-vax ».
Thus the expert explains that, precisely because an effective antidote is available, the infection is more similar to the flu: “Even if we are dealing with very different viral forms, in terms of pathogenesis and natural history, the symptoms tend to overlap”. On the hospital front, the intensive care units are not currently under siege. «But we must insist on the prevention campaign, go into isolation for at least five days, when positive for the coronavirus, and use the mask, if you have had contact with a sick person and in all those circumstances that can be considered risky. For the rest, unlike the previous two-year period, there is no need for particular restrictions in behaviour», remarked Vaia.
Who risks the most
Parties and tables, therefore, are allowed. «With judgment and attention to the elderly and the frail in the family: for them the booster dose is recommended four months after the last one, perhaps associated with prophylaxis against seasonal ailments. Today, cancer patients, transplant recipients, AIDS patients, those with leukemia and those with haematological diseases are at greater risk; while those with respiratory symptoms, especially if they also have a fever, should not participate in the dinner parties. Even if he has a negative Covid swab », the clarification. Travelling, going abroad or skiing doesn’t have to be scary. «In 2020 many infections came from the white weeks for the gatherings in hotels and on the lifts. But, at the time, no one was vaccinated and the virus had a much higher capacity to generate serious illness », recalls the Spallanzani manager.
As for the report on infections, there is a slight increase in the incidence. The variants in circulation, the main ones, are Omicron BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, destined to progressively replace the BA.5 “which remains predominant at the moment, with 90 percent of cases”, intervenes Paolo D’Ancona, researcher of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Higher Institute of Health. Among the emerging subtypes, with a lower prevalence, XBB. “In particular, the BQ.1 (called Cerberus) is among those under attention by the World Health Organization, but so far no signs of its greater danger have emerged”. For the first time, the new wave does not appear to have such a devastating impact.
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