Deaths and hospitalizations were not caused by the flu in Portugal are
The cases of hospitalizations for flu in Portugal, as well as they are not subified by the disease, a study that takes place during a decade the weight of deaths caused by the flu.
The results of the study, which Flu seasons 2009/09 and 208/19 – covers 1 season 2009/10 because of the H1N1 pandemic -, clarifies that there is an underdetection of the complaint in the Portuguese population.
In a communicator to the Lusa agency, pulmonologist Filipe do influenzais, who arrived in Portugal in 2020.
No study (BARI – Burden of Acute Respiratory Infections) “we have seen a large underreporting in terms of flu codes [o código internacional de registo da doença] and excess mortality. Every year we attribute an excess, either to the flu or to the cold, but then we don’t have that translation on the death certificates”stated.
“We confirm that in this period in the media we have excess annual mortality that the 3,000/3,600 deaths, (…) that are attributed to the cold and the complaint, but this only translates into about 100 to 200 complaint codes in the certificates situation”, the pulmonologist, consultant to the General Directorate of Health, points out the diagnosis of this: “the person who passes the death certificate does not undergo a test to confirm the complaint, he writes down a respiratory infection”.
This underreporting, underlined, “it is difficult to assess the true impact of the flu”.
Filipe Fro says that after the covid-19 pandemic, with the boost of molecular biology methods, there will be “more tools for other diagnoses, whether flu or viral infections”, increasing awareness of the impact of the disease.
“In terms of causes of death, there is underreporting and, in terms of hospitalization, there is an underdiagnosis,” said the specialist, insisting: “We have a disease that is the first infectious in terms of disease burden and, in terms of disease Impact and hospital admissions, we have an underdiagnosis that causes, on average, the number of admissions that are coded as associated with inverse flu exceeds 2,000 2,500 “.
The also indicates that the average number of admissions coded as a complaint per time was 1,207 investigation, resulting in 11.6 cases per 100,000 people. The direct annual cost of these hospitalizations was 3.9 million euros, of which 78.6% were generated by average patients with comorbidities.
Relationship between flu activity and pneumonia
The study even further a relationship between peak flu and hospitalizations for pneumonia: “When people have it, they often end up being hospitalized due to complications from the complaint, and not necessarily because of the complaint itself, which also helps in the evaluation”explained Filipe Froes.
The specialist, who is also a member of the National Council of Public Health, also recalled that secondary bacterial flu or the decompensation of other comorbidities, as is the case, for example, of cardiovascular diseases.
The investigation ended in cases of hospitalizations for diseases from 5,356 years old, corresponding to 51,356 years old, corresponding to all age groups from the age of 199.6 years old, aged 65 and over. .
The annual excess cost per population in small or medium-sized problems was estimated at 15.2 million euros for all age groups 65 years and older.
Impact of influenza on health services
In view of the real dimension of the effects of the flu on health services, namely the resources it consumes, Filipe Froes that, even for those who pay the considered flu vaccine (in these cases reimbursed 37% by the SNS) “is one of the most profitable investments that you do every year.”
“There is no economic investment that gives so much return, because you get sick, or that you spend on compensation.
This was the first study to estimate the epidemiological and economic burden of morbidity and mortality from the national flu.
Mortality data are representative of the country, as all deaths recorded in Portugal were used. As for hospitalization data, they represent all hospitalizations in the National Health Service, not including the private sector.