Cases of respiratory virus increase in children, says Fiocruz – 04/11/2024 – Health

Fiocruz’s InfoGripe bulletin, released this Thursday (11), shows an increase in the incidence of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), which mainly affects children, in all regions of the country. According to data from the bulletin, cases of Srag (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in the country have a sign of slight growth in long-term (last 6 weeks) and short-term (last 3 weeks) trends.

RSV is the main causative agent of bronchiolitis in babies, a common and highly contagious respiratory disease whose main symptoms are coughing and shortness of breath. In general, cases are mild, but can result in hospital admissions.

The occurrence of RSV Srag in children up to two years of age exceeds the incidence of Covid-associated Srag in this age group. The incidence of Covid mainly affects children and the elderly, however, in relation to mortality, the population over 65 years of age is the most impacted.

According to Marcelo Gomes, researcher at the Scientific Computing Program (Procc/Fiocruz) and coordinator of InfoGripe, “in children up to two years of age, deaths associated with RSV exceed those associated with Covid in the last eight epidemiological weeks, reflecting the scenario of viral circulation of the period”.

Also according to the note, 18 federative units show growth in Srag in the long term, they are: Acre, Alagoas, Amazonas, Amapá, Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo and Tocantins. Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro and Sergipe show growth only in young children, which may be masked by the drop in the adult population.

In 2024, 29,702 cases of Srag were reported, 12,903 (43.4%) were positive, 11,545 (38.9%) negative and 3,392 (11.4%) are awaiting laboratory results. In the last four weeks, the viruses that most prevailed among positive cases were: RSV (48.6%), Covid-19 (21.9%), Influenza A (18%) and Influenza B (0.3%). Among the cases of death with a positive result for a respiratory virus, there are influenza A (25%), influenza B (0%), RSV (11.2%), and Covid-19 (60.6%).

São Paulo, Brasília and Rio record an increase in flu cases. In São Paulo, between March 24th and April 6th, there was an increase of 3.7 percentage points in positivity, which jumped from 27.4% to 31.1% in one week. This was also what happened with Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, cities that saw increases of 7 and 2.6 percentage points, respectively, in the same period.