The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned this Wednesday of the reported increase in deaths from COVID-19 in the American continent and alarming numbers of hospitalizations of children due to RSV (sitial respiratory virus).
Added to this are the flu symptoms that for the director of PAHO, Carissa F. Etienne, face “a triple threat of respiratory diseases” for which she urged the region’s health systems to implement protocols to face this wave, which in the case of COVID-19 is still dominated by omicron variants.
“In recent weeks, the Americas have seen a 17% increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths have risen in Central and South America despite a modest overall decline in the region,” said Director Etienne.
PAHO also considers that the numbers could be higher, since COVID-19 tests have ceased to be applied substantially in the region, with which the records would not be reflecting the entire problem.
“The cases that are reported to PAHO could only be a fraction of the true number of infections in the Americas,” said the official who heads the Washington-based organization.
Another observation from the surveillance system is that seasonal flu seasons have been ahead of general flu seasons from Canada to the southern cone.
And as for the virus that affects children, it is worrying because “RSV activity is overloading the health systems of Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, the United States, and some pediatric hospitals are reaching capacity as a result of this increase.” or rebound,” said the official.
Other PAHO executives also assessed the increase in seasonal flu cases as a consequence of the immunological gaps generated by the confinements by Covid-19, as well as the cases of children who could be “naive immune” due to the lack of defenses transmitted by the mothers during pregnancy.
The authorities are also monitoring the behavior of cholera in Haiti, where some 7,000 suspected cases have already been reported, and the prevalence of smallpox remains latent in the region, which is why they urge countries to reduce it to zero cases.
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