Expert: Acute respiratory infections rise in Armenia
Armenia saw a 1.1-fold increase in acute respiratory viral infections over the last week, but the high incidence is typical for winter months, said Romella Abovyan, head of the Department for Epidemiology of Noncommunicable Diseases and Nosocomial Infections at the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Speaking at a news conference, she said 76% of the infected people were under the age of 18.
“Meanwhile, the hospitalization rate dropped by 16% in the past week from a week earlier, and the number of patients in intensive care decreased by 8%,” she said.
Abovyan added that as of January 4, 237 patients were hospitalized with pneumonia, 62% of them under 18 years old.
She predicted a further increase in acute respiratory infections after the reopening of schools in Armenia on January 8.