Respiratory viruses can confuse the population – 03/10/2023 – Health

The circulation of different respiratory viruses can cause people with symptoms such as fever and cough to be confused about which illness actually affects them. Only in the state of São Paulo are pathogens such as Sars-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), more common in children, and the rhinovirus, associated with the common cold, circulating.

“We focused a lot during the pandemic on diagnosing the Covid virus, but the others did not stop circulating,” says Carla Kobayashi, an infectologist at Hospital Sírio-Libanês, which has units in the capital of São Paulo and Brasília.

One of the respiratory viruses that normally circulates at this time of year is respiratory syncytial (RSV). Adults may present the infection to a lesser degree and severity, but children are the most affected.

“The increase in cases of RSV is worrying because it is the main causative agent of bronchiolitis that can lead to very serious infections in young children, especially newborns”, says Gerson Salvador, a physician at the University Hospital of USP.

Released this Friday (10), the latest InfoGripe bulletin, a Fiocruz project that monitors cases of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in Brazil, points out that RSV caused 25% of severe respiratory conditions this year among patients with the test. with a positive result for any virus. Only Sars-CoV-2, responsible for Covid-19, exceeded this percentage, with 58% of the total.

Kobayashi says that RSV is experiencing an increase in the number of cases seen in Sírio-Libanês. This increased spread can lead to hospitalizations of children due to SARS. She points out, however, that this growth was already expected in this period of the year.

This progression of the respiratory syncytial virus was not seen in a significant way, however, at the USP University Hospital by Paulo Lotufo, the university’s health superintendent. “We are even finding it strange because in this half of March the VSR should already be dominating and, fortunately, until now it hasn’t.”

Another pathogen that causes respiratory conditions and can cause confusion in the population is the rhinovirus. It usually results in common cold symptoms but can lead, in rare cases, to more serious complications.

“Even one patient or another with comorbidity or a greater risk factor evolves to a more serious condition, but the vast majority of people infected with the rhinovirus will have a milder condition”, says Kobayashi, when reporting that the pathogen was among the responsible for causing an increase in respiratory infections treated at Sírio-Libanês.

The rhinovirus is also mentioned in the latest edition of the Infogripe bulletin.

In the document, it is said that SARS cases in children showed a significant growth in all regions of the country. So far, it is not known exactly which virus causes this multiplication of the syndrome, but it is observed that, in a few states, there has been “recent growth of positives for rhinovirus”.

Influenza is another circulating virus. In the numbers of respiratory syndromes, types A and B of the pathogen represent 1.9% and 1.8% of cases of complications among patients with positive tests for some virus, respectively.

Kobayashi also drew attention to this respiratory virus. She explains that the increase in the number of cases was expected to occur in the coming months, in mid-May and June, but it is already being seen now.

This change in the period of highest prevalence of influenza can be explained by several reasons, including the loss of seasonality of pathogens.

Before the pandemic, the times of the year when viruses would have a higher circulation rate were much more defined. But with the changes wrought by the health emergency, the spread of these pathogens has changed.

“With Covid, there was a total subversion of the order of things. Everything that had a pattern no longer had one”, says Lotufo. According to him, there are reasons that explain these changes. “One of them is that living together in schools has changed a lot. The use of a mask also has an impact on other diseases.”

In addition to all these pathogens, Sars-CoV-2 itself circulates in the country. According to Infogripe, it is the main cause of SARS cases this year – around 58%.

The survey also points out that in the states of Ceará, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the progression of respiratory complications among adults and the elderly is associated with Covid-19.

For Gerson Salvador, the growth in the spread of Sars-CoV-2 is a warning sign, especially for vaccination. “The increase in cases of Covid will have an impact on hospitalization or serious cases, notably on those who are not vaccinated or who have their vaccinations delayed. So, it is important to update the vaccine and the dose of the bivalent immunizer.”