ShareOur immunity has forgotten what the flu and SARS are. Therefore, the incidence of respiratory infections is on the rise. Why the epidemic came to Russia this year earlier than usual, what kind of flu is affecting Russians now, and why the “swine” flu is not swine at all, was explained to Fontanka readers by Dmitry Lioznov, director of the Influenza Institute. Smorodintsev.
– Dmitry Anatolyevich, in Russia there is a special attitude towards the “swine flu” – A (H1N1). He is feared not much less than the coronavirus. There is hope that not he, but another influenza A will come to us (H3N2), how did it happen in other countries?
– If you look outside our country, then in North America and in Europe, the incidence is caused mainly by the A (H3N2) virus. Moreover, the scale of this incidence in a number of countries has reached the level of an epidemic. In our country, A(H1N1)pdm09-like influenza viruses predominate, which many, including journalists, mistakenly call “swine flu”. He is not a pig, and you should not scare people with him.
This flu pathogen has been known to us since 2009, when it caused a pandemic. But since then, it comes to us every year in the autumn-winter period and causes a seasonal rise in the incidence of influenza infection. And he is quite human – a common virus that causes the flu in us along with other strains.
– But it is still called pandemic – the official name is A (H1N1) pdm09.
– This is just its name, it has been circulating for more than 10 years, causing seasonal rises in the incidence.
– Why is more A (H1N1) when people in the Northern Hemisphere are infected with influenza A (H3N2)?
– I can assume that we began to travel less often to the countries of Europe and North America. And second: despite the fact that the incidence is in the Southern Hemisphere (the Northern Hemisphere usually orients itself on it and makes forecasts. — Note. ed.) caused the A (H3N2) virus, which came to Europe and North America, in a number of Asian countries during the rise in the summer incidence just A (H1N1) prevailed. And perhaps the closer contacts of Russians with these countries have led to the fact that we have an advantage over this virus.
– Contacts with other countries were limited during the coronavirus pandemic. But we saw how the spread of its new strains after 1-2 months began in our country, following Europe.
– Nobody says that we do not have influenza viruses that are spreading in Europe. They exist, and the A (H3N2) virus and the influenza B virus. But the main causative agent of influenza now is the A (H1N1) virus.
“Usually, single influenza viruses were detected in Russia in December. And now we are probably talking about a more serious level of morbidity.
– Not certainly in that way. Isolated cases of influenza could be detected even in early autumn. But an increase in the incidence of influenza infection was recorded in November-December, with a high level closer to the New Year. And after the New Year holidays, an epidemic usually began. This year, the epidemic process is slightly different from those that we have observed in recent years.
It should be noted that last year, in fact, the registration of cases of influenza and even outbreaks began at the end of summer.
– Why?
“The early arrival of viruses in the population and the increase in the incidence are natural. The reason is that for two years we practically did not get sick with influenza and SARS. Our immunity managed to “forget” these infections, the natural defense against them weakened. On the one hand, we have acquired immunity to the coronavirus, on the other hand, we have become vulnerable to seemingly ordinary SARS – influenza and others.
That is why we see such a high incidence abroad, where even a new term for the epidemic has appeared – tridemia: covid + influenza + RSV (respiratory syncytial virus).
It is possible that influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2 will establish a “balance of power”. We need time to understand where all this will eventually lead, given that the coronavirus continues to change.
— During the coronavirus pandemic, people are already accustomed to doing PCR tests for coronavirus on their own. And now, when signs of SARS appear, they either go to the clinic and they are prescribed testing there, or they themselves take smears. But to conduct a study on the flu never occurs to anyone.
Where people go without a doctor’s referral is their own business. But if a person is admitted to a hospital with symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections, laboratory diagnostics are carried out there in order to identify the causative agent of a respiratory infection, including influenza.
– Last year, the flu both came and went when a new strain of coronavirus appeared at that time – “omicron”. Won’t the same thing happen this year, for example, “Cerberus”, they say, we still don’t have enough?
– Last year, the flu not only came, but in general, an epidemic rise was registered in Russia, albeit a small one. But against the background of the rapidly spreading “omicron”, it quickly ended. It’s pointless to speculate if this will happen again. Moreover, in those countries where there is a “Cerberus”, and in those where it is not, they suffer from the flu. Should we wait for the disease to decrease? Doubtful.
Although we have lost the habit of the flu over the past two years, we must admit that it is and will definitely be. Compared to last year, when epidemic thresholds for influenza and SARS were exceeded in some regions of Russia, now the number of cases is increasing, and hospitalization is also growing in this regard.
And if so, it is necessary to vaccinate without delay. Let me remind you that pregnant women, the elderly and children, people with chronic diseases are at risk of a severe course of the disease with complications. Vaccination primarily prevents the development of these adverse effects.
And besides, the more vaccinated in the region, the less likely it is to develop an epidemic. Herd immunity protects against a high epidemic rise.
