This season, the flu came to Russia late. This was stated by the head of the laboratory of bionanotechnology, microbiology and virology of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of NSU, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Netesov, the Izvestia newspaper writes.
According to the doctor, the peak incidence will occur in early January and may last throughout February.
Netesov clarified that now the overwhelming number of Russians are suffering from the Hong Kong variant of influenza, the prototype of which circulated in the world in the 60s of the last century. “For several years it was small in the total number of influenza virus variants, and this may be one of the reasons for the current slight delay in the rise in incidence,” noted the virologist. He named the reduction in air travel during the Covid pandemic as another reason for the “lateness”. Because of this, infections from other countries are arriving much slower than before.
Netesov added that in a number of countries, flu vaccination was poorly organized this year, including in Russia.
The fact that influenza A (H3N2) had reached Russia became known in November. The infection was detected in the Oryol, Tyumen regions, the Amur region and the Perm region, as well as on Sakhalin and Transbaikalia. According to Rospotrebnadzor, these symptoms of this type do not differ from the characteristic symptoms caused by a regular influenza virus. These include body aches, general weakness and drowsiness, headaches and dizziness, muscle pain, high fever, nausea and diarrhea, sore throat and dry cough.
Source: Rosbalt
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