MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Respiratory diseases surge in Argentina as fewer people get jabbed

“The problem is people's lack of risk awareness,” an expert explained

Argentine healthcare experts in the Buenos Aires area said this weekend that medical wards were on the brink of collapse given the number of people seeking attention with symptoms of influenza or other respiratory diseases such as influenza A or pneumonia. At the same time, they encouraged the population to get vaccinated against the flu because coverage this year was below 40% while cases went up by 15% from 2023.

“There is an increase in the circulation of different respiratory viruses that can produce clinical pictures, from a common cold, a bronchial picture, or an acute respiratory infection to pneumonia,” Infectiologist Florencia Cahn told Tiempo. She is also president of the Argentine Society of Vaccinology and Epidemiology.

According to the National Epidemiological Bulletin, in the first 20 weeks of this year, more than 37,000 cases of pneumonia and almost 290,000 of influenza-type illnesses were reported.

These infections “can have severe forms and complications in the population at the extremes of life (infants and older adults), as well as those people who have risk conditions such as chronic heart or lung disease, diabetes, obesity, immunocompromise, pregnant women,” she also noted.

Pneumonologist Alejandro Videla said hospital emergency rooms were packed with patients given an above-average increase of influenza A and respiratory syncytial virus cases was reported: “We have a situation of high respiratory virus circulation and that leads to an increase in consultations,” he said.

Doctor Diego Bares of La Plata's Hospital San Martín warned that “in the last 15 days, both in the public and private sectors, the persistence of upper respiratory tract infections has been noticed, but now something much more complex has been added, which is pneumonia, that is, the affectation of the lower respiratory tract.”

Despite no shortage of doses, people have been reluctant to get vaccinated, including healthcare practitioners. “The problem is people's lack of risk awareness,“ Videla stressed while acknowledging that SARS-CoV-2 was ”one of the most frequent germs.”

Respiratory diseases are transmitted from person to person, by talking or coughing, the experts agreed. Hence, in the event of any symptom, social contact should be avoided and medical help sought.

In recent weeks, another virus has also grown: the gastrointestinal virus, which causes vomiting, diarrhea, or severe stomach pain.

In addition, the price of medicines in Argentina rose sharply after six months under President Javier Milei.