Contagious success: the epidemic threshold for influenza and acute respiratory viral infections has been exceeded in 47 regions

The incidence of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections increased by 10.4% in a week. The excess of the national average is now recorded in 47 regions, according to Rospotrebnadzor. To reduce the number of cases, regions across Russia have suspended the work of more than a thousand schools in 53 regions and almost 200 kindergartens in 31 regions. The incidence of respiratory infections will decline only in late spring, doctors interviewed by Izvestia believe.

Overtaking the indicators

During the week, the incidence of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections increased by 10.4%, Rospotrebnadzor reported. During this time, almost 1.1 million people have been diagnosed with such diseases. The excess of the national average was recorded in 47 regions, the ministry said.

And according to the Smorodintsev Influenza Research Institute, epidemic thresholds were exceeded by 20 percent or more in 17 cities: Barnaul, Bryansk, Vladivostok, Vologda, Kaliningrad, Kirov, Krasnodar, Kursk, Orel, Orenburg, Perm, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Stavropol, Syktyvkar, Ulyanovsk and Chelyabinsk.

Morbidity rates exceeding the epidemic thresholds have been recorded since mid-February. In late December and early January, they decreased due to the New Year holidays and holidays. But after people went to work and to educational institutions, they began to grow rapidly again. From February 17 to February 23, their increase was 0.7%, and in the week from February 24 to March 2 — by 11.1%, according to the data of the Influenza Research Institute.

Due to the increase in the incidence of acute respiratory viral infections and influenza in Russia, more than 1.3 thousand schools in 53 regions, 181 preschool institutions in 31 regions and 10 boarding schools were closed, Rospotrebnadzor reported. Almost 12,000 classrooms, 2.29 thousand groups of preschoolers, 24 groups in boarding schools and 85 groups in vocational schools are partially closed. For example, according to reports from the regional departments of Rospotrebnadzor, such measures have been taken in the Perm Region, Yakutia, Pskov Region, Komi, Udmurtia, Crimea, Sevastopol and Altai.

Izvestia checked the reports of the territorial bodies of Rospotrebnadzor. According to them, one of the highest rates of excess of the epidemic threshold in Russia was registered in Karachay-Cherkessia — it is more than 121%. The growth, the supervisory authority for the republic clarified, occurred at the expense of the adult population of 15 years and older. In this group, this indicator was exceeded by 182%, among the children aged 3-6 years — by 104%.

"In Cherkessk, the largest city in the republic, the epidemic threshold has not been exceeded, but there is an increase among certain population groups. Among children aged 7-14, it was 137%, among adults aged 15 and older — 110%," the website of the local department of Rospotrebnadzor says.

Now, in particular, in the Kirov region, the weekly surveillance threshold has been exceeded by 30.1%, the local Rospotrebnadzor reported.

"Among children under two years of age, a decrease in the incidence of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections was recorded by 2.51%; from three to six years — an increase of 12.66%; from seven to 14 years — an increase of 9.42% compared to the previous week. Among people over the age of 15, there is also an increase in morbidity — by 24.92%," the website of the regional Rospotrebnadzor department says.

In Komi, the epidemic threshold among schoolchildren was exceeded by 37.5%, and among adults — by 23%. And in Syktyvkar, the capital of Komi, by 15%. This was announced by Marina Petukhova, head of the Epidemiological Surveillance Department of the Rospotrebnadzor in the republic.

According to the Rospotrebnadzor office for the Rostov region, the incidence of acute respiratory viral infections and influenza in the region exceeded the thresholds by 19.9%.

"The incidence continues to increase from 2.6 to 34.3% in all age groups, except for children 0-2 years old, 3-6 years old and schoolchildren," the regional administration's website says. — In Rostov-on-Don, the incidence of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections in late February and early March was 5.3% higher than the level of the previous week. The city's epidemic threshold has been exceeded by 59.5%, and adults account for more than half of the cases."

In the Ulyanovsk region, according to the Department of Rospotrebnadzor for the region, the weekly incidence rate of acute respiratory viral infections and influenza is above the epidemic threshold by 9.28%. And compared to last week, the number of cases increased by 20.47% and amounted to almost 11.5 thousand. human.

There are no exceedances of the epidemic threshold in Moscow and the Moscow region.

Why has the incidence increased

The increase in the incidence of acute respiratory viral infections, influenza and other viral infections is associated with changeable weather and a sharp cold snap, Marina Berezhnaya, head of the emergency department at the European Medical Center, told Izvestia.

— This year the winter was relatively warm, and the unstable weather with precipitation shifted to the end of February — beginning of March, she explained. — People's physical strength is depleted due to the lack of sun.

According to the expert, the high incidence of respiratory infections may persist until the end of spring, until warmer weather sets in.

Andrey Pozdnyakov, an infectious disease specialist at Invitro, attributed the increase in morbidity to the insufficient number of people vaccinated against influenza this year.

— The risk group includes the elderly, children, pregnant women and people with chronic diseases, he recalled. — Their immunity is especially vulnerable to acute respiratory viral infections, and infections are more likely to be severe and cause complications.

In general, the beginning of spring is traditionally a period of rising incidence of respiratory infections, he noted.

But there is no reason to panic yet, since the current incidence rates are lower than the peak values of 2024, says Polina Arimova, an allergist and immunologist at Dr. Alexandrovsky Medical center.

— However, last year's peak incidence may still be reached, she stressed.

Rospotrebnadzor reminded that in order to prevent respiratory diseases, it is necessary to wash hands more often, ventilate rooms, disinfect work surfaces and gadgets, avoid contact with people with signs of the disease and not self-medicate.