I Covid cases in Italy are slightly increasing: according to the latest bulletin published on the Ministry of Health website for the week of June 20-26, there are 2,504 new cases compared to 2,085 in the week of June 13-19. Swabs are increasing, from 77,305 to 79,276, and the positivity rate: from 2.7% to 3.2%The transmissibility index Rt is at 1.15, slightly above the epidemic threshold.
“The impact on hospitals is irrelevant,” he comments Francesco Vaia, Director General of Prevention of the Ministry of Health. The occupancy of beds in the medical area remains stable at 1.2% (751 hospitalized), as does the occupancy of beds in intensive care, at 0.3%. deaths rise from 14 to 21.
Partial photograph
The numbers represent a partial snapshot of the infections, given that the positivity test for Covid they are done almost only in hospital or by a few volunteers.
Every obligation, even that of protection, has fallen away: yesterday’s ministerial circular dropped the general requirement to use masks in departments for the vulnerable (we talked about it HERE). Even the rapid testsfor those who do them, may not immediately give a positive result: at the first symptoms they may be negative, because since the general population has a certain immunity, the virus replicates less quickly and it takes longer for the organism to reach a certain level viral load such that it can be detected with the rapid test. It is therefore advisable to repeat the test after 48 hours, but how many do it?
Covid is not seasonal
Result, the obligations fall but the virus also circulates in the warm months (as does not happen with the flu), although not in a worrying way, favored by large gatherings, air travel and staying in air-conditioned environments: «Covid will stay with us for a long time fluctuating trend because the majority of subjects have hybrid immunity: they have suffered previous infections or have been vaccinated – he declares to Corriere Fabrizio PregliascoAssociate Professor of Hygiene at the University of Milan and Health Director of Irccs Galeazzi, Milan -. This virus has no seasonality. Approximately every 4-6 months an immuno-evasive variant appears and is therefore capable of infecting people, even if they have been vaccinated or ill in the past (six months it is the average effectiveness time of both recovery and the last vaccination booster).
The variants in circulation
In Italy the JN.1 variant remains predominant, even if the proportion of sequencing attributable to is growing KP.3«daughter» of JN.1, equal to 27.6% in May against 3.8% in April. «Even if there is a very notable lowering of attention and perception of the severity of the disease, Covid can still hurt today – Pregliasco recalls – and can cause the death of frail or elderly people with other pathologies who would probably have had a greater life expectancy if they had not stumbled upon the virus».
The new vaccines
How can the vulnerable protect themselves? New vaccines are expected the autumn and will be updated to the new (not very new) variants: in the EU the European Medicines Agency EMA has given the green light to the anti-Covid vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech updated to variant JN.1. The vaccine will be recommended for use from 6 months of age and up. Generates an “enhanced immune response” compared to the previous version (anti XBB.1.5) against multiple JN.1 sublineages, including the latest emerging ones KP.2 and KP.3. Both groups have indicated they will provide doses for the 2024-2025 vaccination campaign.
The choice for the fragile
Is it better to wait for the updated vaccines or, for those at risk, get the booster shot right away? «For those at risk but who can wait, it would be better to get the vaccine along with the flu shotso you will have the vaccine updated to the JN.1 variant. For those who have had it at least three months and is now in a particularly difficult situation (think of transplant recipients or cancer patients) at the discretion of the attending physician, he can do a booster even now, waiting for the autumn-winter, precisely because Covid is not seasonal and can circulate”.
Finally, we remember that the Covid-19 vaccination reduces also the possibility of suffering the effects of Long Covid, which can develop during or after the acute infection and have a prolonged duration.
