Cases of influenza are rapidly increasing particularly among children. It is the Higher Institute of Health to report a “sudden departure of the curve of flu-like syndromes in Italy”. A phenomenon widely announced by scientists since last year with the population in lockdown, the flu practically did not circulate.
Now the ISS reports that “In the 44th week of 2021, an incidence equal to 3.5 cases per thousand assisted is observed”. But the incidence rises a lot among the little ones under 5 years of age. In this band “we observe an incidence equal to 15.8 cases per thousand assisted”. Cases recorded by the regions that have activated the surveillance, Piedmont, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna where there is a level of incidence of flu-like syndromes above the basal threshold which for this year was set at 3.16 per thousand.
In the 0-4 age group the incidence is equal to 15.83 cases per thousand assisted, in the 5-14 age group it is 3.79 in the 15-64 age group 3.02 and among individuals aged 65 or over to 1.64 cases per thousand assisted.
The data emerge from the first ISS Influnet bulletin which analyzed the period from 18 October to 7 November. In all, there are 573,000 cases with an incidence reaching 3.5 per thousand assisted in the last week taken into consideration (1-7 November) and a total of 207 thousand cases.
Last year in the same week the incidence level of seasonal influenza was equal to 1.15 cases per thousand assisted.
However, these are partial data since nine regions (Val d’Aosta, PA of Bolzano, PA of Trento, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Umbria, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria, Sardinia) have not even activated InfluNet surveillance.
Already a couple of weeks ago from some pediatric hospitals the bronchiolitis alarm was raised: the share of small children affected by syncytial virus, for example in Padua but also in Rome, was decidedly higher than the seasonal average.