Although the Covid pandemic is over, the respiratory virus continues to cause deaths around the world. In the northern hemisphere summer, there is a sharp increase in cases and recent scientific studies show that the current low vaccination rates cause more serious reinfections, beyond cases of long covid. Infectologist Eduardo Savio told Uruguay News that “Covid is a disease that is present in the world and that is not going to go away.” The epidemiological situation in our country shows that cases have dropped significantly, “in the last 16 consecutive weeks there has not been a single death from Covid and there are few cases and they are concentrated in people over 65 years of age,” said the specialist.
The increase in cases in the northern hemisphere is associated with large events and crowds. Today, scientists are focusing on reinfections by the virus and the need for vaccination, “symptomatic reinfections increase the risk of sequelae, hospitalizations and death.” Savio explained that there is a worldwide tendency “to not take revaccination into account and immunity is gradually lost.”
An mRNA vaccine that provides immunity against influenza and Sars Cov 2 is expected to be ready by early 2025 and “this would help with the two most important respiratory diseases, and this is good news, because it will make things easier, in times of scarce vaccination,” added the epidemiologist.
For the world’s scientific societies, comorbidities must be taken into account, “since the population is increasingly older and is accumulating diseases, and this infection can worsen pre-existing diseases.” According to these experts, it is advisable to get vaccinated, since there are vaccines available, “vaccination must be annual and semi-annual in high-risk patients,” explained Savio.
Listen to the interview:
Photo: Pablo La Rosa/ adhocFOTOS
Text: Adriana Martell
