Seasonal curves for influenza and COVID-19 show increasing trends – Science & Technology

(ANSA) – Rome – The cold has arrived and, as expected, in addition to Covid-19, the number of cases of influenza syndrome is increasing in Italy. Last week, 447,900 Italians were bedridden due to respiratory viruses, mainly rhinoviruses, although the number of influenza viruses is starting to increase.
These are some figures from the latest RespiVirNet monitoring bulletin from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.
The report shows that in the week from November 13 to 19, the incidence rate of influenza syndrome was 7.6 cases per 1,000 people (6.6 cases in the previous week). The youngest children are the most affected: 16 cases per 1,000 people in the 0 to 4 year old group, 5.89 in the 5 to 14 year old group, 8.20 in the 15 to 64 year old group, and 1 per 1,000 people over the age of 65. 5.19 cases per 1,000 people.
Among them, Lombardy (10.84 cases per 1,000 people), Piedmont (9.57 cases per 1,000 people) and Abruzzo (8.99 cases per 1,000 people) have the highest incidence rates.
Regarding the pathogens causing the infection, only 21 (2.6%) of the 808 samples analyzed by laboratories under the RespiVirNet network tested positive for influenza virus, all type A.
Of the samples tested, 67 (8.3%) tested positive for SARS coronavirus and 34 (4.2%) tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus. The remaining 207 people tested positive for other respiratory viruses. The most common was rhinovirus: detected in 152 samples, almost a fifth of the total.
The virus that is slowly rising again is the coronavirus.
Last week, according to monitoring data from the Control Room of the Ministry of Health and the Institute of Higher Health, all indicators showed an upward trend.
The number of new cases per week increased to 44,953, with 76 new cases per 100,000 residents, an increase of approximately 30% from the previous week’s 58 cases per 100,000 residents. The Rt contagiousness index is also rising and is equal to 1.12 (0.93 7 days ago), exceeding the epidemic threshold.
Incidence rates are increasing in almost all regions, with the highest rates in Veneto, which are more than twice the national average (176 cases per 100,000 people).
The most affected age group are people over 90 years old. However, mortality did not change significantly.
Although bed occupancy in the medical sector remains limited (7.7%, with 4,811 hospitalizations), it increased by 1 percentage point compared to the previous week. The occupancy rate of intensive care beds also increased slightly: equivalent to 1.5% (137 people hospitalized), compared with 1.4% last week.
Among these variants, the major role of EG.5 (Eris) remains confirmed. (ANSA).