Infectious diseases

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. 

Against the backdrop of dog attack incidents, experts have raised concerns over the growing stray animal population in Türkiye, suggesting that it could equal the country's human population by 2030.

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.

The rise of mycoplasma pneumonia, akin to the "Chinese" child pneumonia, has been witnessed across Europe, echoing the respiratory concerns observed in China, reports Euronews.

There is no concern, at least for now, in Greece regarding the surge of respiratory illness in China, according to the data received so far by the National Public Health Organization (EODY). 

China's health ministry announced on Sunday that the recent upsurge in respiratory illnesses, which has captured the World Health Organization's attention, is attributed to the influenza virus and other established pathogens rather than an unidentified novel virus.

Due to the fact that even the first news about the coronavirus from China were vague and mysterious, and that no one could have guessed that a pandemic would occur, the news that a virus that attacks the lungs appeared in China and that caused hospitalization of large number of children went off like a bomb.

Deputy Director of the Infectious Disease Clinic, whom we often heard during the coronavirus pandemic, points out for Blic that doctors have long been warning about the inadequate use of antibiotics. Buying these drugs without a prescription has put everyone at risk, experts say, and has become one of the biggest global problems.

The European Health Emergency Response Authority (HERA) has issued recommendations to pharmaceutical companies to increase production of antibiotics used to treat respiratory infections ahead of winter in an effort to avoid a recurrence of shortages, especially of amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid.

With the intra-hospital spread of Covid-19 still a major problem, hospital doctors' representatives are insisting on the need to maintain the obligation for healthcare staff, patients and their attendants to wear masks within healthcare facilities.