Primary care patients are currently facing an onslaught of three viruses simultaneously. Although the number of COVID-19 infections is relatively low, influenza and RSV still remain high. In some regions of Poland, influenza still dominates, while in others RSV takes the lead. To make matters worse, it no longer affects only children - their parents and grandparents are also getting sick.
Three viruses at once. Infection season takes its toll
Published Feb. 17, 2025 08:59
Family medicine specialists are sounding the alarm: although everyone is at risk of infection, the youngest and seniors are the hardest hit by the disease. The increased number of hospitalizations and dangerous complications make the situation more dramatic.
More cases of influenza are now being reported in Poland. Meanwhile, vaccinations are still not very popular. Although about 10 percent of the population has been vaccinated this year, this is still a very low result compared to Europe. By comparison, in Denmark the vaccination rate is as high as 78 percent. The situation is similar in many European Union countries.
- This is a lack of responsibility for one's own health and that of others," assesses Dr. Agata Slawin, an expert with the Zielonogórska Porozumienie Zielonogórskie Federation. - Parents invest in expensive dietary supplements, but forgo free vaccines. I can't understand this, although I constantly try to educate patients.
Paradoxically, chronically ill people are the least likely to be vaccinated, even though they are the ones who should be especially concerned about prevention.
- Flu vaccination does not give 100 percent protection, but it significantly reduces the risk of getting sick and, most importantly, of a severe course, Dr. Slawin explains.
The most common complications of influenza include pneumonia, myocarditis and exacerbation of existing conditions such as asthma, diabetes and ischemic heart disease. The most severe course of infection is seen in people over 65 and in the youngest children. One of the biggest problems, however, is the carelessness of middle-aged adults who, while ill, continue to go to work, contributing to the spread of infection.
- Not only do they infect others, but they also end up at the doctor's office at an advanced stage of the disease," says Anna Osowska, an FPZ expert and a doctor in Sepopol. - They think they are heroes, but this is extreme irresponsibility. It's as if they forgot what the COVID-19 pandemic taught us: isolation, masks and hand hygiene.
Unfortunately, the result of such attitudes is overcrowded waiting rooms and mutual contagion among patients.
In many parts of Poland, there is a lack of effective flu medicines that, given early enough, could shorten the illness and alleviate its course. Doctors recommend their use not only for patients, but also prophylactically for family members. The Ministry of Health announces intervention imports, but vaccination remains the most effective tool in the fight against the epidemic.
- Currently, we are recording a lot of complications after a severe course of influenza, i.e. pneumonia, purulent ear infections," emphasizes Joanna Szeląg, an FPZ expert and family doctor from Bialystok. - If patients were vaccinated, the number of hospitalizations would be much lower.
After the flu wave, many patients are struggling with RSV, which is several times more contagious and leads to several times more hospitalizations in infants than the flu. Before the age of two, almost every child develops an RSV infection - unfortunately, adults are also getting sick.
- We perform tests not only for children, but also for their parents and grandparents," says Malgorzata Stokowska-Wojda, an FPZ expert and family doctor from Laszczow. - I recently had a patient in his 60s whose condition required hospitalization. RSV is not only a pediatric problem.
Most RSV-infected patients have symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection: cough, inflammation of the throat, rhinitis are accompanied by fever and lack of appetite. Patients cannot breathe, they suffocate. Last year, about 22,000 children were infected with RSV. Now even more are getting sick. Often bacterial superinfection occurs and antibiotic therapy is required. However, in infants, RSV infection is one of the leading causes of hospitalization. RSV is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and for people with chronic diseases: heart, lung, immune deficiencies, diabetes, heart failure. There is no causal treatment, only symptomatic treatment.
Doctors urge people to follow basic hygiene rules. In public places, too, it is advisable to wear masks, and in case of infection - stay at home and avoid contact with others. Influenza vaccination and COVID-19 also play a key role. This can save the health and lives of many patients, FPZ experts stress.
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