TRENTO. “There are laboratory analysis confirmations, there are some hospitalizations, there are data on the incidence: the flu virus exists in Trentino and has begun to circulate”.
So Dr. Maria Grazia Zuccali, director of the Prevention Department. The most frequent cases emerged in the 0-4 age group and then in the 5-14 age group: the national reports, created thanks to the fundamental contribution of the “sentinel doctors”, speak for Trentino of over 33 cases per 1,000 inhabitants among the youngest , for a total of about 600 children.
The figure is the highest at a national level, but it appears fairly obvious both due to the climate and the fact that the 17 doctors (3 paediatricians and 14 general practitioners), who cover a percentage of the population greater than 3% – sufficient for ensure good monitoring – they are doing the job profitably.
«The incidence is increasing and the value reached has exceeded the thresholds: in short, the curve is soaring. It is flu, but also other respiratory viruses. Comparison with recent years? The curve is going up earlier and more sharply. As for the peak, this varies from season to season, but occurs more frequently between the last week of January and the first week of February.
If among the little ones, indeed among the very young, the flu and other “similar” viruses are raging, among adults the reports speak of better data. Between 15 and 64 years the incidence is 4.4 cases per thousand, while among the over 65s it is just over 1 case per thousand citizens.
“These are data that can be explained by the flu vaccination,” Zuccali underlines. We ask the doctor if the “bar analyses” have any scientific basis: that is, after two years of masks and great attention, is it possible that the immune defenses have lowered, thus facilitating the arrival of new viruses?
«That the masks and other precautions have protected us in the past two years is evident. And the flu actually didn’t exist in 2020 or 2021. It’s not true that our immune system has weakened, however, also because the virus changes every year. However, it is true that in the two years without the flu there was no stimulus to our system: let’s say that our immunological memory has somewhat forgotten about certain viruses. Let’s remember that the real flu is never trivial, it’s not a cold and a sore throat, but it’s an important disease».
Finally the advice. «In addition to getting vaccinated, including pregnant women, who can protect their babies, even if it may seem trivial I say of stay home if you are sick».
From the general picture to the more specific one, focusing on the category – at the moment – most affected. Namely the children.
«The virus arrived earlier than usual – explains the pediatrician Marta Betta, secretary of the Italian federation of pediatric doctors – and the problem at the moment is called bronchiolitis. Since mid-October there have been many calls to our clinics: flu syndromes, respiratory syncytial virus, some pneumonia that worries us. The 0-6 age group is the most affected, also because they are children who live in the community and pass on various viruses. I speak in the plural because sometimes they take three at a time, they overlap. The numbers? Well, there’s no story compared to 2020, because we were all locked up in the house. Today the Influnet data say that cases are on the rise.
Dr. Betta then underlines some important aspects. «An important message is that the flu is a virus and the antibiotic is not effective. Then: at the first symptoms they must be kept at home, reminding us of what we have learned with the covid, or rather that transmission occurs before having a fever of 39. Finally the vaccination: all the pediatricians have joined and it is done free of charge in the clinic, or by some colleagues if the logistics do not allow administration. And this year there’s also the nasal sprayeven if some children told me that they prefer the sting because then I’ll put the Ice Age plaster on them…”.