Mexican politicians have made public the case of a first patient suffering from the coexistence of the Covid-19 and influenza A H1N1 viruses. A “first” that gives cold sweats to health professionals.
- Mexican health authorities have made public the first known case of a patient infected with Covid-19 and influenza A H1N1.
- These two viruses did not merge with each other, but the patient had to be hospitalized twice in a very short time
This is the nightmare of many health authorities. This Sunday, October 11, the Mexican State confirmed the existence of a currently hospitalized case of a person carrying both SARS-CoV-2 – the Covid-19 virus – and influenza A type H1N1 – probably a seasonal flu. “This is the first case in Mexico where the presence of both viruses has been isolated and confirmed.“explains José Luis Alomía the director general of epidemiology of the Secretariat of Health of Mexico during a press conference.
According to the Secretariat of Health, the patient is a 54-year-old woman with multiple pathologies due to an autoimmune disease. She has a history of cancer and obesity, including chronic lung disease. “This is also our first case of seasonal flu in this phase of the year.“adds José Luis Alomía.
This woman had the first symptoms of Covid-19 at the end of September. She was then hospitalized and tested positive. She was first released from the hospital around October 5 or 6, but was hospitalized again a few days later due to her fever. The second hospital detected the influenza A H1N1 virus in her during a test for the two diseases – seasonal flu and Covid-19. According to this senior official, the 50-year-old “is currently hospitalized and her condition is improving“.
Fear of a “syndemic”
A case that is certainly exceptional but which worries many Mexican doctors like their colleagues all over the world. The reason? The risk that this seasonal flu epidemic will weigh a little more on the immune system of patients and on the health system of countries. “More than the union of these two viruses in a single person, which is unusual, we must be concerned about a saturation of hospitals due to the simultaneous action of the current pandemic and seasonal flu“, declares on social networks the doctor Alejandro Macías the former responsible for the management of the epidemic of H1N1 swine flu in 2009 in Mexico.
In an interview with theSpanish news agency EFEthis doctor believes that no country is prepared to face a “syndemic” – a neologism composed of “syn-” from the Greek sun”with, together” and the end of “epidemic”. This word refers to the risk of seeing a population suffer from the addition of two or more epidemics and/or the simultaneous outbreak of diseases.
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