A wave of Covid, influenza and ARVI has hit Russian schools

Whether it was the cold weather or the predicted post-Covid decline in immunity, the country was covered by a wave of viral diseases. Coronavirus has been added to the traditional seasonal ARVI and influenza. Children get sick equally or even more often and more severely than adults. Classrooms are emptying, and more and more schools are going completely remote.

As for “corona,” according to doctors’ predictions, the harmful virus that caused the pandemic and lockdown has become one of the seasonal diseases. The federal operational headquarters for combating this disease reports a 9.7% increase in coronavirus cases in Russia. The rise was recorded in 51 regions.

But the same doctors admit that Covid was “crushing.” Thank God, cases of severe illness that require hospitalization are becoming less and less common. For the most part, the virus that has brought so much fear to humanity has a moderate course of acute respiratory viral infection.

The flu is another matter. This year’s strain has a severe course and multiple peaks of temperature rise. And often with complications in the lungs. The Influenza Research Institute claims that the cumulative increase in influenza and ARVI in Russia in 36 large cities exceeded the threshold of 20%.

There is no need to explain why there is no need to explain – it is in cities that there are large crowds of people and crowded public transport. Epidemiologists also talk about mass “immune amnesia” that has covered people. They say that two years of circulation of coronaviruses in our bodies made our cells forget how to fight other viruses. And thereby significantly reduced the effectiveness of immunity in people.

In addition, cases of latent pneumonia, including in children, are being reported from various places. Some experts believe that this is “mycoplasma pneumonia” from China, and it mainly affects young people and children.

In schools, as is known, if 20% of students become ill, the class must go to distance learning. If such a threshold is exceeded on a massive scale, and there are 60-70% of such classes, the entire school goes remote.

Reports about remote schools come from different regions: Bryansk and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Novorossiysk, Primorye and Chuvashia, St. Petersburg. In the Moscow region, classes and entire schools are also being closed, in Lyubertsy, for example. And increasingly, doctors and scientists are calling for the introduction of a mask regime and the cancellation of events in schools. New Year’s concerts and discos as well.

In Moscow, where there is also a huge number of cases, there is officially no epidemic. However, parents complain en masse that “half the class is sick, but no one goes anywhere.”

“My girl is in 7th grade, they don’t have an ordinary school, there are only 20 people in the class,” says Muscovite Irina. – Out of 20, 12 are on sick leave. Several teachers are also sick, and they cancel lessons every now and then. But no distances are announced. Either this is the end of the year and quarter, the program needs to be caught up, or there was no such order. Moreover, some parents manage to bring children to school with snot, coughing and sneezing. In our class, two such boys infected everyone.

Now the class teacher is forced to post an announcement that parents should keep children with signs of flu or ARVI at home. And they treated!

And epidemiologists are sounding the alarm. They note that against the backdrop of an increase in seasonal “sickness,” diseases such as measles, whooping cough, tuberculosis and scarlet fever are increasingly rearing their heads. And the reason is that the heavy viral load among us northerners weakens our bodies year after year. Against this background, the coronavirus simply punched a hole in the immune system. In particular, this is why severe influenza can cause not only complications, but also post-influenza asthenia, general weakening and loss of strength in the body.

Therefore, virologists, infectious disease specialists and other specialists are increasingly calling for the reintroduction of the mask regime.

“The mask regime is not an ideal solution, especially for children,” says pediatrician Evgeniy Serdobinsky. – If we are to prevent and protect, we need to break the chain of the disease, that is, isolate ourselves. And this is remote control.

Yes, I see that there is an increase in ARVI and influenza. And I would like to remind parents of a few basic things. The nose is the entry point for any infection; we protect it first of all. There are drugs for inhalation, there is a powder inside that effectively covers the mucous membrane. Or use ointment, if that’s more common. Apply before every exit from home.

Don’t forget to wash your hands and avoid contact with obviously sick people. Protect children from stress, it worsens the immune system in the same way as hypothermia in the cold. If a child does not have a fever, but complains of lethargy, drowsiness, or something is generally wrong with him, it is better to leave him at home. Observe, and if signs of the disease appear, do not delay contacting a doctor.

Read the material “An unusual bacterium”: microbiologist Yakutenko named the danger of mycoplasma pneumonia in children”