Influenza early, peak by the end of the month
This year the flu came early. The peakaccording to experts, it is expected by the end of December. And accesses to Emergency room of many Italian hospitals have risen significantly; many acute patients, especially the elderly and frail, also need to to retrieve.
Sylvester Scottigeneral secretary of FIMMG, the Italian federation of general practitioners, said never in the last 15 years there has been a flu peak comparable to this year. “Looking at the current data, the trend suggests a much higher peak than that of past epidemics,” Scotti told dailyhealthcare.it.
So far the most affected age group has been that up to 4 yearsbut in recent weeks the incidence has also increased among 5 to 14 year olds, while there have been few cases among the elderly.
Influenza syndromes, considered by most to be seasonal ailments, can also cause serious consequences; they are in fact among the leading causes of death worldwide. Depending on the year and the different viruses in circulation, influenza causes up to 50 million cases with symptoms in European countries, and it is estimated that it leads to the death of 15,000-170,000 individuals.
For Walter Ricciardiprofessor of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the Catholic University, “la individual response to epidemiological emergencies is not sufficient to protect the population: a public approach, coordinated and based on scientific evidence”. Ricciardi then stated that “this year the flu vaccination campaign went terribly wrong”.