In the fifth week of the year – between January 29 and February 4 – 47,400 people went to the doctor with a flu-like illness based on the reports of doctors participating in the monitoring service, the National Center for Public Health and Medicines (NNGYK) said in its report published on Thursday.
271,000 people went to the doctor with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection. They wrote that last week, respiratory samples from 398 patients arrived at the center’s laboratory. Out of the 335 samples submitted by the doctors, the pathological role of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was confirmed in 110 patients and in 15 patients.
The influenza positivity rate was 32.8 percent, the SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate was 4.5 percent. Of the 29 samples submitted by the sentinel hospitals, influenza A(H1pdm09) was identified in nine patients, RSV in six patients, and SARS-CoV-2 in one patient, the NNGYK explained.
According to the information, in the 5th week of the year, the concentration of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in the wastewater shows stagnation concerning the national average. Most of the examined cities are characterized by a stagnant trend, and no increase occurred in any of the sampling locations. A slight decrease can be seen in the supply area of the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Eszka-Pest, as well as in Eger, Győr, Szekszárd and Szolnok.
They also informed that in the 5th week of the year, the concentration of the genetic material of the influenza A virus in the sewage shows an increase. During the week, 15 samples contained the genetic material of the virus in an amount exceeding the detection limit.
It was highlighted that it can be established that an increase in the viral load of influenza measured in wastewater is followed by two weeks by an increase in the need for emergency care, while an increase in the genetic material of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is followed by an increase in the number of calls to the emergency service by one week.
(MTI)
