We are entering the heart of seasonal ailments and for a few days, for adults and children, there has been the possibility of getting vaccinated. The newspapers have alarming headlines about a flu that causes brain damage. Let’s try to understand more with Tecla Mastronuzzigeneral practitioner and Simg prevention macro-area manager.
Let’s start with the definitions. What is H3N2?
«The H3N2 virus is a type A influenza virus, it is not a new virus. It was defined as being responsible for “Australiana” because this virus appeared quite frequently in the epidemic that has just ended in the hemisphere opposite to ours, in Australia precisely.”
What is the current situation/incidence in terms of numbers in Italy?
«The flu epidemic is only in the starting blocks, for now we have recorded the first cases. The first cases of influenza were not caused by H3N2 but we have numerous reports of the presence of this virus in various Italian regions.”
What are the symptoms?
«These are the typical symptoms of flu: high fever between 38 and 40 degrees, chills, headache, muscle and bone pain, drowsiness, tiredness and sweating. To these are sometimes added a runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat, dry cough and loss of appetite.”
Can it really affect the brain?
«Influenza is a highly contagious infectious disease that causes a heavy burden on health services. It is not a trivial disease, it is associated with numerous and dangerous complications and neurological ones are among the most fearful. These are known complications associated with all influenza viruses, not just H3N2.”
Is there an additional risk for children and the elderly?
“It seems that H3N2 affects the elderly more and H1N1 circulates more among children.”
Tecla Mastronuzzi, general practitioner and Simg prevention macro-area manager
How to deal with it?
«We certainly have solid tools to avoid contagion. Every year the Ministry of Health publishes indications aimed at preventing and controlling influenza. First of all, prevention starts with personal behaviour: wash your hands regularly, observe good respiratory hygiene, stay at home if you have symptoms attributable to febrile respiratory illnesses, avoid close contact with people with symptoms attributable to the flu. Furthermore, surgical masks worn by people with flu symptoms can help reduce infections among close contacts. But this is still not enough, the safest and most effective way to protect yourself from the incipient flu epidemic is the anti-flu vaccination, currently available in the clinics of all family doctors.”
Is the flu vaccine we are undergoing these days useful?
«Certainly, the vaccine contains vaccine strains of type A H1N1 and H3N2 and in the southern hemisphere it has proven effective both for limiting contagion and for counteracting the development of clinically serious forms».
Would it be useful to return to masks in crowded situations or in doctors’ offices?
«The Ministry reiterated that the use of masks by patients with flu pathology is able to reduce the possibility of contagion, but certainly even fragile patients can and must protect themselves, especially in closed and crowded environments».
A word about Covid. What is the current scenario in terms of numbers and symptoms? Is it worth continuing the vaccination cycle?
«Sars-CoV2 circulates and will continue to circulate. Last winter the first part of the seasonal epidemic was caused by Sars-CoV2. Covid19 continues to be a potentially serious disease in patients with predisposing conditions, but we must not only think of elderly and seriously ill patients from other pathologies. In recent years we have understood that the categories at risk are many and sometimes even “unsuspected”, think of patients with diabetes mellitus, or overweight patients, or pregnant women. These categories must be protected with vaccinations. We have vaccines for Sars-Cov2 that are safe and effective in preventing evolution towards clinically relevant forms and our Ministry of Health has recently published the recommendations for the 2024/2025 autumn/winter vaccination campaign against COVID-19. It is recommended that the anti-Covid vaccine be administered to all patients aged 60 or over and in a series of frail conditions, which would expose the patient, in the event of COVID-19, to a significant risk of evolving towards forms of serious disease . Protecting yourself is really easy, why not do it?”.
Istock cover photo
