Epidemiologist Hamid Souri warned the public over a possible surge in respiratory illnesses such as influenza and Covid-19 during autumn and winter given the drop in observance rates of health protocols.
“This has been predicted in other parts of the world too and so we also expect seasonal respiratory diseases, especially endemics, to rise,” Souri was quoted as saying in an interview with ISNA on Friday.
The health official stated that the country needed to take the necessary measures to prepare for the situation and to especially protect the most vulnerable groups.
According to him, coronavirus screening had drastically declined across the country.
“We presume there’s no epidemic but the virus is still circulating in the society,” he added.
He expressed concern that no data was available on Iranians’ immunity levels, the existing Covid variants spreading among the population or coronavirus transmission rates.
Souri stated, “[Covid] is a potential danger that exists until its end is announced by international organizations such as the World Health Organization.”
He said he considered the current situation to be “fragile” and that the disease could make a comeback within days.
The official advised the public, especially groups most at-risk, to receive booster shots for both influenza and Covid but added that without proper evaluation of immunity levels in individuals, vaccination could even be detrimental to someone’s health.
Based on Souri’s assessments, immunity against influenza could have dropped over the past few years as inoculations had decreased and fewer people had become infected with the illness.
Another Wave
Asked about the possibility of an eighth wave of Covid-19 peaking in the next few months, Souri pointed out that another peak could occur if the virus mutated once again.
“But since we don’t possess information on infections and only rely on death rates, our judgments are wrong and we’re misled,” he said.
Souri noted that Iran’s system of color-coding cities had been false from the start. The Health Ministry on Friday announced that none of Iran’s cities were any longer on red alert.
On Sunday, 323 new patients were identified and 91 required hospitalization, bringing the total number of infections to 7.55 million.
Eight more patients lost their lives to the contagion on the same day, taking the national death toll to 144,486. Over the past 24 hours, 7,500 more vaccine doses were administered, bringing the tally of jabs given to 154.84 million.
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