Increase in COVID-19 cases continues

With the reopening of schools, infectious diseases, primarily COVID-19, have been on the rise. In the last four weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases detected worldwide reached 251,996, showing an increase of 15,348 compared to the previous month. Pointing out that viruses such as influenza and RSV are also on the rise alongside the coronavirus, Turkish Thoracic Society Central Executive Board Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nilüfer Aykaç said, "As in developed countries, updated COVID-19 vaccines must be brought to our country immediately and high-risk individuals should be vaccinated."

Pointing out that the virus continues to exist with new mutations, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aykaç shared the following information:

"According to World Health Organization data, the JN.1 variant has been reported as the most frequent causative agent in recent weeks. Due to the decrease in testing and case reporting worldwide, reported COVID-19 cases do not accurately represent the prevalence of the infection. However, some countries have recently reported increases in both new case numbers and hospitalizations and deaths. These limited data show that COVID-19 infection continues to be a threat worldwide. For this reason, early warning, surveillance, reporting, variant tracking, ensuring early clinical care and treatment, vaccinating high-risk groups with updated vaccines, and public information are important."

HIGH-RISK GROUPS SHOULD BE VACCINATED WITH UPDATED VACCINES

Pointing out that updated vaccines should also be used in our country and administered to those in the risk group, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aykaç concluded her words as follows:

"The vaccines used in the early periods of the pandemic are not expected to be effective against new variants with changed genetic structures. For this reason, high-risk groups should be vaccinated with updated vaccines."

THOSE WHO ARE SICK SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS

Drawing attention to the rising number of cases with the reopening of schools, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ezgi Demirdöğen also said, "The start of education in schools after the summer holiday has led to an increase in viral respiratory infections, as expected. In the near future, the existing burden on healthcare services will increase further with seasonal epidemics that other viral agents such as influenza and RSV will cause, in addition to COVID-19. For this reason, it is important for everyone to pay attention to hand hygiene and for closed areas, especially schools, to be ventilated with appropriate ventilation methods. On the other hand, it is important for people showing flu-like symptoms to use masks and stay away from healthy individuals until their symptoms pass, in order to break the chain of transmission and reduce the severity of COVID-19 and other respiratory virus epidemics."