Common cold

“About 1 in 4 people who have had a cold or other respiratory infection will have a lingering cough”

Some 94 cases of streptococcus bacterial infection have been detected in the past 14 months, 23 of which resulted in death, among them 11 children under the age of 10, data from the National Organisation for Public Health (EODY) showed on Thursday.

However, according to "Blic", a wave of increase in patients who have a fever, cough, sneeze, feel a pain in the throat, are weak and have flu-like or covid-like symptoms is expected in the coming days. The main impact of tridemia is yet to be expected, and pediatricians are already working at full steam.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has spoken about the surge in upper respiratory tract infections, revealing that Istanbul saw the biggest increase in cases in Türkiye.

Answering the questions of journalists after a cabinet meeting, Koca said that the current increase of infections was expected due to the seasonal conditions of winter months and that there was no cause for worry.

With a surge in viral infections seen amid the ongoing cold and damp winter weather, an infectious diseases specialist has warned of a "virus potpourri," as the number of patients in emergency units with upper respiratory tract infections has doubled in recent days. 

As the weather gets colder, influenza cases have been on the rise lately in the country, with patients complaining of prolonged coughs, bronchitis and recurring infections, filling almost all outpatient clinics recently.

Medical experts have observed the first signs of easing in the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and other seasonal viral infections in children in recent days, following an intense and escalating outbreak.

"We have reached the ridge - the most cases per unit of time. I think that within two weeks we will be able to observe a gradual decrease in the number of new cases. Of course, this largely depends on people's behavior."

According to Dr Sekler, it can be noticed that "the virus has crossed two thirds of the way and that everything is on the right track for now".
Sekler told RTS that the winter period is generally the season of respiratory diseases, and he estimated that children should go to kindergartens and schools.

Epitemiologist Branislav Tiodorovi says for RTS that, although this strain has a somewhat milder clinical picture, it is spreading quickly, and summer should be used to vaccinate as many citizens as possible.