The Mozambican ministry of Health on Wednesday January 10 recommended reinforcing preventive measures against flu-like illness in the country, warning of a growing trend in the positivity rate.
In a statement, the ministry recommends “reinforcing flu prevention measures, namely: cough etiquette, reinforcing individual and collective hygiene, regular hand washing or disinfection and the use of masks for individuals with acute respiratory symptoms”.
According to the same source, in Mozambique, the positivity rate for the influenza virus, one of the causes of acute respiratory infections, has tended to increase since the end of December, rising from 12% to 20% in the last two weeks, although clinical data does not yet report alarming figures in health units.
“The above positivity rates are within the expected limits for this time of year,” says Misau, which is implementing a flu syndrome surveillance system to monitor epidemiological trends, seasonality and the circulation of variants of the causative viruses.
“In Mozambique, infections by these viruses occur throughout the year and the number of cases increases in the months of January to April, with a peak in March, and between the months of June and September, with a peak in August,” says the ministry.