Health

Flu nears COVID-19 as top cause of SARS in Brazil

Influenza A is behind 24.6% of SARS-linked hospitalizations

Vinícius Lisboa

Published on 27/10/2022 - 16:18

Rio de Janeiro

Virus Influenza A is close to surpassing SARS-CoV-2 as the main cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome—SARS—in Brazil.

According to the InfoGripe report released by Fiocruz foundation Thursday (Oct. 27), Influenza A accounts for 24.6 percent of hospital admissions linked to the viral form of the syndrome, while the novel coronavirus is still predominant, lying behind 26.4 percent of the cases. The data cover October 16–22.

In addition to these two pathogens, the respiratory syncytial virus—RSV—also stands out in the epidemiological landscape, causing 21.7 percent of SARS cases known to be viral.

A comparison with early September casts light on the development of the situation. In the survey from October 8, the distribution of SARS cases was: 3.4 percent for influenza A, 0.2 percent for Influenza B, 6.5 percent for RSV, and 68 percent for SARS-CoV-2.

Fatal cases

Despite the change, considering the fatal outcomes of SARS in the report released Thursday (27), SARS-CoV-2 continues to prevail, leading to 77.8 percent of deaths, while Influenza A is responsible for 11.1 percent, and RSV for 1.6 percent. Still, SARS-CoV-2 has lost ground, since the proportion of deaths caused by it reached 93.4 percent on September 8.