The Virus Filling Waiting Rooms in Serbia — Its Most Dangerous Symptom Paralyses the Legs

Since mid-September, the waiting rooms of health centres across Serbia have filled with patients hit by a respiratory virus, as Nova.rs reports. Besides fever, coughing and general weakness, patients complain of an unusual and frightening symptom — weakness in the legs to the point of a complete inability to walk.

“Patients complain that they cannot stand on their feet; some cannot get out of bed,” says a general practitioner from a health centre in Belgrade, quoted by Nova.rs. According to her, paralysis of the legs can last for days or even weeks, leaving patients dependent on the help of others even after the acute phase of the illness has passed.

The fall in temperatures, Nova.rs stresses, is favouring respiratory viruses, among them Covid-19. The most affected are children and people in the 20-64 age group. During September alone, the number of patients at health centres was up to 50% higher than in August.

Doctors warn that today’s respiratory viruses are partly neurotropic, so no symptom should be underestimated. The main advice is complete bed rest until you have fully recovered — returning early to work or school only prolongs recovery and spreads the infection.

Meanwhile, as Nova.rs writes, vaccination against seasonal flu begins in October. It is especially recommended for people over 65, the chronically ill, pregnant women and healthcare workers — the groups most at risk from complications of respiratory viruses.