The Salvadoran minister said up to seven positive cases of the disease were being recorded daily and some of those affected, he claimed, were showing symptoms similar to those attributed to the new Omicron variant “Pirula”. Alabí stressed that the number of people affected by the pandemic is exceeded by admissions for pneumonia related to other viruses and respiratory complications.
During an interview with Noticiero El Salvador, the owner and surgeon did not rule out that the new Omicron JN.1 variant called “Pirula” was circulating in the country, whose symptoms he said had a component described as transmission through the gastrointestinal tract.
It's not just about simple transmission through the air, but also via the gastrointestinal tract, which makes transmission much easier, the minister emphasized.
He reported that there is an increase in respiratory infections, whose daily consultations on the public network are three thousand and that only three percent of these cases represent income for us, which he considers to be a “fairly small amount”.
This data is attributed to the vaccination strategies that the government is pursuing against influenza, pneumococcal and Covid-19 with the bivalent Pfizer vaccine.
Health Ministry figures show that 9.5 out of 10 Salvadorans have had at least two doses of the vaccine against the disease and 100 percent of the elderly have been vaccinated.
Alabí called on the population to maintain health measures to avoid infections and the spread of all respiratory viruses.
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