Covid-19: 8 Brazilian capital cities show drop in severe cases of respiratory diseases

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) detected a drop in hospitalizations for the so-called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 8 Brazilian capitals, after the second week of January, through a survey published in the InfoGripe report.

These are Belém (PA), Belo Horizonte (MG), Brasília (DF), Cuiabá (MT), Curitiba (PR), Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and São Paulo (SP). A drop has also been detected in Manaus (AM), but it is still unclear if a data backlog in the region may be behind a limited calculation of cases in the current scenario.

SARS can be caused by a number of respiratory viruses. However, it is still an important indicator of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the novel coronavirus was responsible for 97% of all cases and 99% of deaths in patients who tested positive for a viral infection within the framework of this syndrome in 2020.

Fiocruz explained that, at a national level, research suggests that reported SARS cases in Brazil as a whole are showing evidence of long-term decline over the past 6 weeks, and short-term decline over the past 3 weeks. However, there are still significant differences between states, with some capital cities and inland regions maintaining rising averages.

Overall, the data may be somewhat compromised as a result of data backlog issues that have been occurring since December last year. The current report is based on data collected up to February 8th.

The same calculation points out that five capitals are showing an upward trend. These are Boa Vista (RR), João Pessoa (PB), Aracaju (SE), Fortaleza (CE) and Vitória (ES).

Between 2020 and the last report, 754,025 SARS cases have been reported. Of these, 56,175 are related to the 2021 epidemiological year. Among positive cases for respiratory viruses, 0.0% relate to Influenza A, 0.0% to Influenza B, 0.5% for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and 95.2% for Sars-CoV-2 (Covid-19).

Last year, 697,850 cases were reported, with 399,504 (57.2%) with positive laboratory results for a respiratory virus, 209,316 (30.0%) were negative, and at least 47,905 (6.9%) are waiting for results. Among the positive cases, 0.3% were for Influenza A, 0.2% for Influenza B, 0.3% for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and 97.9% for Sars-CoV-2 (Covid-19).

Source: Veja