By Andrea Hargraves 
Várzea Paulista City Hall, through the Municipal Health Administration Unit, has been working all these past days to put together an emergency contract to implement an exclusive unit to treat patients with flu-like symptoms.
The new unit must be implemented in the same location as the CTA, Testing and Reception Centre, at Dr Alcípio Hospital, today, and must be open all day, every day of the week, with exclusive and trained teams. City Hall is assembling a team to run the pavilion as soon, if possible, at the start of the week, in the face of difficulties preparing professional rosters due to the holiday.
This is one of the measures discussed to mitigate the impact of the new variant of the H3N2 influenza virus, which has caused outbreaks in nearly all of the country. Although it does not develop into more serious conditions, this increased prevalence of H3N2 has caused a significant impact on the length of care provided to patients, not only in public hospitals, UPA and UBS, but also in private hospitals. At Várzea Paulista UPA, the increase was over 200%.
According to specialists, some of the reasons for this increase were the very low demand for the influenza vaccine in this year’s campaign (in Varzia Paulista, just over 30% of the target audience for the vaccine was vaccinated) which, although it does not directly protect against it. The new breed, can provide greater protection for the most vulnerable groups; In addition, relaxation with Covid-19 prevention measures, such as using a mask, hand hygiene and avoiding agglomerations, was also an important factor in the outbreak, because the form of infection is the same.
flu care
To avoid catching any kind of flu, the precautions are the same against Covid-19: a protective mask; constant hand hygiene (with soap and water or alcohol); Avoid clumping. Avoid putting your hands over your eyes, mouth, or nose outside the house; Above all, vaccination.