Increase in acute respiratory illnesses recorded in Armenia, specialist says

An increase by 1.1 times in acute respiratory diseases was recorded in Armenia during the past week. Romella Abovyan, head of the Epidemiology Department of Nosocomial Infections at the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health, told about this to a press conference Friday.

Abovyan explained that this increase is typical of the current season, which began on October 1 and will end at the end of May.

"However, if we compare with the indicators of the same period last year, it will turn out that the number of cases has decreased by 1.1 times," the specialist added.

The number of calls to primary medical facilities in Armenia has increased by 1.1 times, and the number of emergency calls is also increasing, Abovyan noted.

"At the same time, compared to last week's indicators, the number of hospitalizations decreased by 16 percent, and visits to intensive care units—by 8 percent. As of January 4, 582 patients were hospitalized with acute respiratory infections, 95 percent of whom are minors. 237 patients were hospitalized with pneumonia, 62 percent of whom were minors. There are 78 patients at the intensive care units, 95 percent of whom are minors. In general, 76 percent of patients with acute respiratory infections are minors," said the representative of the Ministry of Health of Armenia.

She added that this increase in acute respiratory diseases in the country may also be due to the increase in the amount of contact between people during the New Year holidays, as well as non-compliance with the rules of personal hygiene, not wearing face masks, etc.

In her assessment, the number of illnesses in Armenia may increase due to the expected colder weather.

Abovyan advised to get vaccinated against the flu, and not to send children to schools in case of relevant symptoms.

"Foreign citizens [in Armenia] can also be vaccinated; it protects against all types and subtypes of the flu circulating in Armenia. Compared to previous years, an activeness is observed in the domain of flu vaccinations. Most likely, the coronavirus pandemic had a positive effect on people's conduct [in this regard]," the expert emphasized.

Romella Abovyan added that the target groups for flu vaccination are the minors.

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