Bronchiolitis Outbreak in San Luis: Cases on the Rise, Syncytial Virus Affects All Age Groups

At the national level, cases of bronchiolitis predominate in hospitals and exceed pre-pandemic levels of 2019. The province is also experiencing an outbreak and joins the curve of increasing infections for other respiratory diseases.

The head of the Epidemiology Program of the Ministry of Health of San Luis, Rodrigo Verdugo, indicated that during the last two weeks the cases of respiratory ailments grew by 106% and that San Luis is under an outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus.

“As the cold weather begins, virus transmissions begin to increase. One of those that is circulating in the province is the respiratory syncytial virus, which is the one that mainly causes bronchiolitis in children under two years of age. This condition, since there is no vaccine, the only way to prevent it is by taking care of ourselves, such as trying to avoid contact between small children and people with respiratory signs,” Verdugo explained.

Bronchiolitis is a pathology that appears mainly in children up to two years of age. Regarding the virus that circulates in the province, Verdugo pointed out that it affects all age groups, especially those over 65, who are generally prone to pneumonia.

On the other hand, the official explained that, according to the report issued by the National Ministry of Health, the follow-up reflects a notable increase in respiratory diseases. He pointed out that, compared to 2022, this year the infections were brought forward.

“This continues to increase and we are already in an outbreak of bronchiolitis. When we make the endemic corridor on this disease with respect to the last five years, he defines a graph with an area that has three zones (success, security and alarm). Today we are in the alarm zone and under an outbreak. We are with fewer cases than last year, but during this period they were brought forward. We can reach the end of the year with more cases because the upward curve is going very fast,” the official said.

Faced with this alarm zone, Verdugo pointed out that care to prevent contagion is the same as the precautions taken during the pandemic: frequent hand washing, avoiding

meetings in the case of presenting symptoms, use gel alcohol, clean and ventilate the environments and reinforce the flu or COVID-19 vaccination.

“The respiratory syncytial virus is the only one that is increasing along with influenza. That is why we recommend the flu vaccine for risk groups, because we remember that the doses are not universal and it is intended for groups such as those over 65 years of age, pregnant women, postpartum women and people between 2 and 65 years of age with risk factors. We also advise the placement of the COVID-19 vaccine for those people who have passed more than four months since the last dose ”, he pointed out.

Coronavirus on the rise

Regarding the epidemiological situation of COVID-19 that the province is going through, the official explained that in recent weeks there has also been a growth in infections.

“It is increasing little by little, we got to have one case per week and now we had ten detected infections in the last two weeks. Even if the coronavirus is not the one that is circulating, you have to take care of yourself the same ”, he pointed out.

Finally, Verdugo recalled that coronavirus vaccination operations are available in all health centers in the province.

Writing/MGE