Everything you need to know about the Australian flu

Inside theBambino Gesù Children’s Hospital of Rome have been isolated the first cases of the so-called Australian influence. To be affected 16 children who, in the last three months, went to the emergency room of the hospital after finding out respiratory problems. The first dates back to the end of June. To locate the virus H3N2responsible for the flu, the researchers of theMicrobiology and Immunology Diagnostics Area of the same hospital. To counteract the infection and relieve symptoms, starting from first of Octoberin Italy it will be possible receive the flu vaccine also equipped with coverage against this pathogen-infectious agent.

Video of Bianca Bonafede

How the first cases of Australian flu were identified

It was the end of June when in the emergency room of theBambino Gesù Hospital in Rome a first patient affection from Australian flu virus. To date, the number of children who have presented themselves to the emergency room, showing almost the same symptoms, or criticality to the respiratory system, has reached an altitude 16. To recognize which pathology it was were the researchers of the Microbiology and Diagnostics of Immunology area of the Hospital following careful analyses aimed at studying the molecular profile of the pathogens present in the organism of the infected children. In each of them the virus H3N2among the main managers ofAustralian influence.

The analysis work that allowed the pathogen to be recognized was explained in more detail by professor Carlo Federico Perno, head of the Department of Microbiology and Diagnostics of Immunology within the Roman hospital, who described the operation as “a laboratory investigation that allows us to discover its characteristics and to understand whether it is an unknown pathogen or already known”. Pin defined the H3N2 virus “a relatively common type that has circulated over the years” to then specify that “The wave of infectionswhich departed approximately 6 months early from the Southern Hemisphere, including Australia, it promises to be intense also in Italyalready reached by the virus since the beginning of the summer “.

Symptoms of the Australian flu

As for the symptoms, the Australian flu does not differ particularly from the others, consisting mainly of: fever, fatigue, gastrointestinal upset, breathing problems and aching bones and muscles. However, as the professor Alberto Villanidirector of the Department of Emergency, Acceptance and General Pediatrics of the Child Jesus “In subjects at risk and in the case of comorbidities, the disease can have more serious effects”.

The appeal of doctors on the importance of getting vaccinated

Hence the importance of get vaccinated. It is always the professor who warmly recommends “vaccinate all children, especially frail children, from 6 months of age against the flu”, Reiterating the fact that“ the vaccine is a safe tool to protect both them and those most at risk of the family unit “.

In Italiathe premium doses of the vaccine will be administered starting October 1st. This will be an updated version of the flu shot able to prevent and contrast contagion and face a possible overlap between Australian influence and Covid, whose numbers are usually on the rise starting in autumn. It is always the Professor Villani to explain that “The double vaccination, anti-flu and anti-Covid, is particularly important and suitable for all the most fragile population groups “finally reiterating that “Vaccines protect us not only from severe forms of the disease, but also and above all from the risk of fatal outcomes which unfortunately cannot be excluded”.