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22/06/12, 09:12
AH1N1 reappears and kills one in five in Sao Paulo
One in five Paulistas who contracted the H1N1 virus (swine flu) died this year. Have been reported so far 53 cases of the disease with 11 deaths for the state board of health, which did not disclose which cities in the state the disease appeared. Although the number of infected patients is as expected, the percentage of deaths in this group, 20.75%, worries doctors. In the country, this rate is much lower: 11.35%.
In 2011, this time of year, the State of Sao Paulo had not recorded any death from swine flu. The first death was reported only at the end of October. The folder does not state the total number of reported cases occurred last year.
"The number of deaths in 2012 is representative and makes us worried. There are fears that this year there is a greater virulence, "says Jean Gorinchteyn infectious disease, the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Diseases. He said the fatality rate in 2012 in the State is 5% to 10% above expectations.
Gorinchteyn remember that winter is still in the beginning and, with the possibility of the coldest days in the coming weeks, the trend is that conditions of confinement and overcrowding will become more frequent. It is precisely at such times that the virus has a higher circulation.
In the country, the virus has reached 449 people and caused 51 deaths, according to a survey by the Ministry of Health The number of cases is almost triple the number recorded in the whole of last year, which had infected 181, with 27 deaths. Among other states that have reported H1N1 deaths this year are Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul
Despite the high mortality from the disease this year, the number of infected continues as expected. This, Gorinchteyn, indicates that the profile of the virus has not changed. If there was a change in this trait, the disease would spread faster and more patients would have reached in this period.
"What stands out is the type of disease. Why are the cases leading to death? We can imagine that the patients affected are those who have more risk of developing serious illness: the elderly and immunocompromised, "he argues.
Experts emphasize the importance of vaccination to prevent a possible epidemic, as occurred in 2009 when the disease emerged. The infectious Graziella Hanna Pereira, Edmundo Vasconcelos Hospital Complex, notes that the higher immunization coverage, lower the risk of new cases arise.
This year, however, the National Vaccination Campaign against influenza had a lower adherence than expected in the State of Sao Paulo. To distinguish a possible H1N1 virus infection from a flu or a cold, Graziella recommends that the patient observe your breath: If there is shortness of breath and change in frequency of breathing, he should see a doctor.
The new Protocol for Influenza Care, established by the Ministry of Health last year and released in March, through an Epidemiological Bulletin of the Secretariat of Health Surveillance, emphasizes that every patient should seek a health service if it had a flu-like syndrome "defined by the emergence both of sudden onset of fever, plus cough or sore throat, more headache (headache) or myalgia (muscle pain) or arthralgia (joint pain)."
Immunosuppressed patients, who have a chronic disease like diabetes and obesity, pregnant women and elderly should be especially attentive to the signs if they have not been vaccinated.