The expert stated the similarity of the "Hong Kong" flu with last year's strain.

The currently circulating H3N2 influenza strain, often referred to as "Hong Kong", is a classic and does not differ fundamentally from the virus that caused an increase in the incidence a year earlier. This was stated by Alexander Gorelov, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, at the Izvestia News Center during a press conference on: "Seasonal diseases: the main risks and protective measures".

According to him, small antigenic changes for influenza viruses are a natural process, but the key question remains whether these changes are accompanied by a worsening of the clinical picture of the disease.

"The key property of the pathogen is its ability to infect the largest number of people and cause severe forms of disease.

So, the H3N2 currently circulating is no different from what it was a year ago. Yes, there have been antigenic changes, but this is typical for viruses, this is the life of viruses," Gorelov said.

He drew attention to the special attitude of the global medical community towards the flu: all serious complications, such as stroke or heart attack, that occur in a patient within two months after suffering from documented influenza, are regarded as its long-term consequences.

"People are now talking about post-covid, and we know about post-flu asthenia and a host of other situations. The flu was not described yesterday," the academician noted.

He explained that the disease causes a serious biochemical "storm" in the body and is the cause of a large number of complications. In this regard, Gorelov called vaccination the main and justified preventive measure, noting that modern vaccines are based on accumulated medical knowledge.

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On November 25, Ekaterina Belova, an allergist and immunologist at the Atribeaute clinic, said that it was useless to strengthen the immune system during illness. The specialist dispelled the myth about the work of immunity in acute respiratory viral infections and flu. According to her, the immune system can be strengthened in case of illness, but this only works if a person has an immunodeficiency.

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