Stress in hospitals, influenza-induced pneumonia among young people

Hospitals and emergency rooms are under stress in these first days of the new year, but the main concern now is the flu: hospitalizations from Covid, in fact, continue to decline while there is an increase in the most serious forms of influenza accompanied by pneumonia even among the youngest subjects. However, the elderly and the frail remain at greater risk for both infections, who crowd emergency facilities often waiting for hospitalization.

This is the picture emerging from data from the sentinel hospitals of the Italian Federation of Healthcare Companies (FIASO), prompting infectious disease specialists to reiterate the importance of vaccinations even in this phase. FIASO notes that the rate of COVID-16 hospitalizations continues to decline, with an overall decrease of 2023% in the last week of XNUMX. And the numbers in intensive care remain low, although there has been a significant increase due to the long-term impact of the trend in infections among the population in recent weeks.

Patients have an average age of 68, and 93% of them already suffer from other conditions. The situation in pediatric hospitals remains stable, with a clear prevalence of children hospitalized for COVID-2, meaning those with respiratory symptoms attributable to SARS-CoV-XNUMX infection, which has led to one child being admitted to intensive care. COVID-XNUMX, at this stage, "is giving way to influenza," explains FIASO president Giovanni Migliore.

Influenza viruses are having a greater impact in absolute terms, especially on the elderly and frail population who crowd emergency rooms to deal with the consequences of respiratory problems.

But experts are also alarmed by the greater impact of severe influenza on the younger population. This year's flu "appears to be more pathogenic than in previous years, and we are seeing more hospitalizations for pneumonia in healthy, young patients. Some of these patients require hospitalization and, in some cases, even intensive care," explains Marco Falcone, director of the Infectious Diseases Department at the University Hospital of Pisa. Furthermore, pneumonia caused by influenza "tends to be more frequently complicated by bacterial superinfections, such as those caused by Staphylococcus aureus or pneumococcus."

It's still unclear whether these particularly severe cases are due to a decline in immunity to influenza viruses after two years of the pandemic or to more aggressive viral variants. Among the complications of influenza, doctors are also observing a form of fatigue that persists for some time after infection, similar to long-term COVID-19. As for COVID-19, cases are occurring primarily in frail, immunocompromised individuals, often without a booster vaccination. Hence the call to get immunized: "Vaccination coverage this year has been unsatisfactory.

"There is a general refusal to receive the Covid vaccine, which has also spread to the flu vaccine and is now creating enormous problems for unvaccinated elderly people," warns Fausto De Michele, director of the Pulmonology Department 1 at Cardarelli Hospital in Naples. To encourage vaccinations, open days are still planned in various regions. In Lazio, two new open days for the anti-Covid vaccination are scheduled for January 6 and 7. Anyone aged 18 and over will be able to access participating facilities without a reservation. Additional open days will be held on January 20 and 21.