Flu, boom in cases and peak in pneumonia. Sardinia among the most affected regions: "Hospitals in trouble"
Doctors' warning: "Emergency rooms clogged and ambulances blocked"
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With the surge in cases of flu-like syndromes in recent weeks , pneumonia is also increasing and, with it, the pressure on family doctors and hospitals , which are often forced to keep patients in the emergency room for long periods of time waiting for a bed to become available in the ward . This is the alarm raised by several scientific societies.
The latest data from the RespVirNet surveillance system of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità have shown an increase in the number of cases of flu-like syndromes in the last week . Sardinia is also among the most affected regions alongside Lombardy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo and Puglia.
In addition to influenza viruses, the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, SarsCoV2, Rhinovirus, and Metapneumovirus, among others, contribute to the growth of infections. "The co-circulation of these different viruses can increase the clinical risk and the possibility of complications especially in elderly patients, in frail patients with chronic diseases or with alterations of the immune system and in children under 5-6 years of age", explains Roberto Parrella, president of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Simit). This is confirmed by Lorenzo Palleschi, President of the Italian Society of Geriatrics, Hospital and Territory (Sigot): "We are observing a notable increase in the number of cases of influenza with complications at the pulmonary level", he says.
The need to turn to hospitals is therefore growing. "Most emergency rooms in large cities are clogged, with the phenomenon of boarding within them, so that patients stabilized here are waiting to be admitted to other departments; there have also been some ambulance blocks," adds Palleschi. Things are no better on the ground. "Studies, clinics, home visits are facing great pressure. We are at the maximum epidemiological impact," explains Alessandro Rossi, president of the Italian Society of General Medicine and Primary Care.
To complicate matters, the characteristics of this year's flu tend to last longer than usual: "The acute form with fever lasts 3-4 days, followed by a phase of symptoms such as asthenia, headache, muscle pain. There is a risk of inappropriate prescriptions of antibiotics that we must try to manage and govern", concludes the doctor who invites us to "improve vaccination coverage, since we are far from optimal coverage".
(Online Union)
