In the last 24 hours in Italy there have been 22,265 cases and 43 deaths. The weekly increasing trend is therefore confirmed, almost 30% compared to last Saturday.
Of course, the percentage of positives on swabs performed is also increasing, rising to 14.6%, an increase compared to 13.9% yesterday. On the other hand, the hospital curve is still decreasing, with intensive care units that drop by 8 units (yesterday -4) and are now 126 with 7 admissions of the day; Ordinary hospitalizations also fell, 20 fewer (yesterday -37), for a total of 3,293.
Test measures protection levels, tells us when to vaccinate
A “made in Italy” test will tell us how protected you are from the virus and when to vaccinate again. A team of Italian researchers from IRCCS in Candiolo (Turin) who, with the Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM), in the Armenise-Harvard Immunoregulation laboratory, have developed a simple blood test capable of overcoming the limits of current serological tests, alone unable to determine the level and duration of immunity to the Sars-CoV-2 virus. In other words, this test, which consists in quantifying the memory T lymphocytes, allows to measure and therefore verify if the immune system is still “armed” against the virus or if it needs to be boosted with a new dose of the vaccine. Not everyone benefits from Covid vaccination in the same way. In some people, the immune response against the Sars-CoV-2 virus is stronger and more lasting than in others. It may happen that one individual needs a new dose of Covid vaccine after a few months and another after 6 or even 10 months. In fact, not everyone is able to maintain a high response necessary to recognize and eliminate the virus and its variants, including the currently dominant one, Omicron. The specific immune reaction is composed of two types of cells, B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes, the former responsible for the production of antibodies, the latter for the cellular response against the virus, i.e. the recognition and elimination of infected cells. Evaluating and measuring the presence of reactive T lymphocytes is therefore essential to understand if a person is still protected from contagion.
The study has important implications for the future management of the pandemic. Being able to understand if you are in possession of these cells will be useful to establish the degree of protection of the general population, and in particular of the most fragile subjects, and to select who and when needs further protection with vaccination.
Iss, reinfections date back, almost 16%
In the last week, the percentage of Covid-19 reinfections out of the total number of reported cases has slightly increased compared to the previous week: 15.8% compared to 14.9% of the previous figure. This was noted by the Higher Institute of Health in the extended report that accompanies the weekly monitoring of the progress of the epidemic in Italy. An increase in reinfections compared to 12.9% at the end of August when the figure was almost stable. In general, from August 24 of last year to September 21 of this year, 1,089,184 cases of reinfection were reported, equal to 6.2% of the total cases notified in the same period.
Iss, 7-day incidence increasing in younger people
Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has increased in all age groups between 0 and 19 years, although the data referring to the last week are to be considered in the process of consolidation. The Higher Institute of Health (ISS) notes this in its extended Report that accompanies the weekly monitoring. More specifically, it emerges that the 7-day incidence rate is increasing in the younger age groups (0-9 and 10-19 years) “also due to the start of the school year”, writes the ISS . In the school age focus contained in the Report, the percentage of cases reported compared to the rest of the population is 11.1%. In particular, in the last week, 28% of school-age cases were diagnosed in children under 5, 35% in the 5-11 age group, 37% in the 12-19 year group. In total, since the beginning of the epidemic, the cases of Covid-19 diagnosed and reported to the integrated surveillance system in the population 0-19 years have been 4,545,944, of which 23,149 hospitalized, 518 hospitalized in intensive care and 72 died. Finally, for the incidence by age group, as well as among the youngest, it is also increasing in the 30-39 and 70-79 age groups. The highest incidence rate is recorded in this last age group, 70-79 years, with 227 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the 20-29 age groups the lowest value is recorded, equal to 124 cases per 100,000.