Every winter, Spain faces a new wave of flu. Well into December, the reports issued weekly by the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network warn that we are in the highest point of hospitalizations by the disease so far in 2023. The low mortality rates in our country indicate that the majority will overcome the trance without problems, although a new investigation published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases points out that negative consequences can come much later.
“Our study shows that there is a high number of deaths and a great loss of health after being hospitalized due to Covid-19 or seasonal flu,” says Ziyad Al-Aly, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington and lead author of the work. “Many people think they have overcome the flu after being discharged, but our study shows that they can develop long-term illnesses“he continues.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, numerous investigations have emerged that have investigated the long-term consequences of this infection. Heart and lung damage and higher death rates are some of those described. However, the effects to posteriori of seasonal influenza have past more unnoticed.
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“Five years ago it would not have occurred to me to consider the possibility of a prolonged flu. It is an important lesson that we have learned from SARS-CoV-2,” continues the epidemiologist.
Previous suspicions
Months ago, another study published in the same magazine showed that beyond Covid, other respiratory infections could last more than four weeks. “It doesn’t seem strange to us, but it is true that before Covid we were not so aware of it as we are now,” Rosario Menéndez, director of the respiratory infections research program of the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), told EL ESPAÑOL.
The novelty of this study is that it has examined the damage that the disease can cause in the long term in the most vulnerable patients. According to findings, those who had been hospitalized for flu, in the 18 months after infection, had a higher risk of death, hospital readmission, and more health problems.
“The health risk was greater after 30 days of infection“, describes Al-Aly. “Prolonged flu is a much bigger health problem than the flu,” he says.
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Almost all of the patients examined — a cohort of nearly 11,000 people hospitalized with the flu between 2015 and 2019 — had long-term health problems after being discharged. These included cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological and mental health damages, although what stood out most were lung damage.
Precisely a study presented last October, carried out in Spain and directed by the professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the Rey Juan Carlos Ángel Gil University, revealed the great hospital burden that this ailment has in the long run. For each hospitalization coded with a specific flu diagnosis, estimates were made 3.8 additional hospitalizations due to cardiovascular and respiratory related problems.
“When a person dies, it is hardly recorded as a death due to flu. It is frequently recorded with the code of one of the underlying diseases that the patient had. In our study, a more exhaustive search is done for the presence of flu in these patients, either at the time of death or if they had had a close antecedent in time“, declared the professional in this regard.
Excess mortality
The flu itself can cause death to the most vulnerable people due to the breathing problems and dehydration it can cause, although it is not the most common. The majority of deaths occur due to complications generated by the disease. However, the iinflammation related to the disease can affect other organs, just as what had been observed with Covid, and cause pathologies associated with a higher risk of mortality.
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Specifically, during the period analyzed by Gil in his study (2008-2018), a rate of 27.7 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants related to the flu was estimated. The majority due to respiratory and cardiovascular complications. The total number of excessive deaths In the study period it was 74.69468,484 of them in patients over 65 years of age.
“Before the pandemic, we tended to look down on most viral infections as inconsequential: ‘You’ll get sick and get over it in a few days.’ But we’re finding that’s not everyone’s experience. Some people end up with serious health problems. in the long term. We need to become aware of this reality and stop trivializing viral infections and understand that they are the main causes of chronic diseases,” the researcher instructs.
The vaccine is presented as the best tool to avoid these complications in the long run. According to latest data from the Ministry, from 60 to 64, only 36% of the population has received it. Higher is 64% for those over 65 and 67% for those over 75. However, the rates They are not close to the 75% objective set by Health.
This is a problem that the Spanish Vaccinology Association regrets. As with pneumococcus, they consider that it is due to something multifactorial, although the not being aware enough of dangers like those described in this new research.
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2023-12-19 00:35:15
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