‘Worst ever’ virulent cold sweeps across the UK

A ‘worst ever’ nasty and virulent cold is sweeping across the UK.

England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer has issued a warning that influenza is a “significant public health concern” this winter as a nasty and virulent cold is sweeping across the UK, flooring people for up to weeks at a time.

Professor Van-Tam said: “Not many people got flu last year because of Covid-19 restrictions, so there isn’t as much natural immunity in our communities as usual.

“We will see flu circulate this winter; it might be higher than usual and that makes it a significant public health concern. Covid-19 will still be circulating and with more people mixing indoors, sadly some increases are possible.

“For the first time, we will have Covid-19 and flu co-circulating. We need to take this seriously and defend ourselves and the NHS by getting the annual flu jab and the Covid-19 booster when called.”

One sufferer of the illness described the cold as being ‘the worst lurgy ever’, it is now reportedly spreading across the UK, with the South West, North West, London and the Midlands all being badly affected.

Another person struck down by the new cold, from Reading in Berkshire, said she’s had to take seven days off as a care worker due to a ‘debilitating’ cold. Her daughter, an NHS worker, had also been struck down by the virus. For some people, diagnosing the condition can be particularly difficult.

Over the past week, there has been an average of 35,000 new coronavirus cases a day, putting the UK at the top of Europe’s infection chart.

Andalucia has not purchased enough flu vaccines to cover even last years total of inoculations. The Minister of Health for Andalucia has said he expects a smoother vaccination campaign against the flu than last year. The number of doses purchased for the 2021-2022 campaign, which begins on October 14, is however insufficient to cover the vaccinated population and falls far short of the actual amount required.

Abstract:

Co-infection of COVID-19 with other respiratory pathogens – US National Libray of Records study results: Jun 25 2021

Co-infection of COVID-19 with other respiratory pathogens which may complicate the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of COVID-19 emerge as a new concern. The overlap of COVID-19 and influenza, as two epidemics at the same time, can occur in the cold months of the year. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the rate of such co-infection as a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Eleven prevalence studies with a total of 3,070 patients with COVID-19 and 79 patients with concurrent COVID-19 and influenza were selected for final evaluation. The prevalence of influenza infection was 0.8% in patients with confirmed COVID-19.

The frequency of influenza virus co-infection among patients with COVID-19 was 4.5% in Asia and 0.4% in America. Four prevalence studies reported the sex of patients, which were 30 men and 31 women. The prevalence of co-infection with influenza in men and women with COVID-19 was 5.3 and 9.1%, respectively.

Eight case reports and 7 case series with a total of 123 patients with COVID-19 were selected, 29 of them (16 men, 13 women) with a mean age of 48 years had concurrent infection with influenza viruses A/B. Fever, cough, and shortness of breath were the most common clinical manifestations.

Two of 29 patients died (6.9%), and 17 out of 29 patients recovered (58.6%). Oseltamivir and hydroxychloroquine were the most widely used drugs used for 41.4, and 31% of patients, respectively.

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