Health

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome cases grow in Brazil

Fiocruz stresses importance of vaccination against COVID-19 and flu

Rafael Cardoso - Repórter da Agência Brasil

Published on 28/04/2023 - 11:38

Rio de Janeiro

Castelo Mourisco, sede da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), em Manguinhos. — © Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil

The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) reported a rise in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases across 19 out of 27 Brazilian states in the long term (last 6 weeks until April 15).

The analysis by age group indicates that the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the main contributor to the surge in cases among children, whereas Sars-CoV-2 (COVID-19) continues to be predominant among adults.

Fiocruz points out the significance of other incidents resulting from influenza A and B viruses and notes that the data from its Infogripe bulletin emphasizes the need for greater population participation in vaccination against both COVID-19 and the flu.

After analyzing the epidemiological data of the past four weeks, the predominant respiratory viruses were identified as follows: SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 (68.6%), influenza A (12.6%), respiratory syncytial virus (10.9%), and influenza B (7.9%). Of the fatalities recorded during this period, 75 percent were attributed to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

Fatalities/year

According to Fiocruz, there were 2,678 recorded deaths due to SARS cases in 2023, out of which 1,572 (58.7%) were confirmed with positive laboratory results for respiratory viruses. Among the positive results, 85.6 percent were attributed to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), 4.5 percent to RSV, 4.3% to influenza A, and 2.9 percent to influenza B.