Why more and more young people are dying from COVID-19 in Brazil

As Brazil grapples with the world’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, the number of deaths increases among young people, a worrying trend that some experts attribute to a local variant of the virus that has started to spread to other parts of the world. “We are seeing a prevalence of younger patients, without co-morbidities, hospitalized with very serious conditions”, warns Dr Jaques Sztajnbok, supervisor of the intensive care unit (ICU) at Emilio Ribas hospital in São Paulo. “This seems to be a frequent situation in all ICUs in Brazil,” the 55-year-old doctor adds with concern.

Is that So far this month, some 2,800 people under the age of 40 have died from the coronavirus in Brazil, more than double the number during the same period in February and almost three times the number in January, according to the government data.

The elderly continue to account for the vast majority of deaths from Covid-19 in Brazil, as in virtually all countries, but the proportion of young Brazilians who have died has increased slightly: About 6% of deaths in Brazil this month are among people under the age of 40, up from less than 5% in February.

According to official data, deaths of Brazilians aged 30 to 59 started to increase in December and in almost three months they have risen from 20% to almost 27% of the total.

Young people are also sicker than in previous waves of the pandemic, local doctors said. Forbes, CNN and Bloomberg this week, and Intensive care units in Brazilian hospitals now frequently treat younger Covid-19 patients than before. “Half of the patients admitted to our services are under 60 – underlines Luiz Carlos Pereira Junior, director of Emilio Ribas – a year ago, there were 35%.”

Some experts blamed the new variant of the coronavirus which has ravaged Brazil in recent months and has contributed to a sudden resurgence of Covid-19: strain p.1 is terrifying because it can be more contagious than previous versions and able to re-infect people. Studies suggest it could be up to twice as transmissible and re-infect 25 to 61% of people who have had COVID-19.

The variant first discovered in the western city of Manaus has been responsible for the dramatic increase in infections and deaths and has been detected in the United States, Europe and other parts of Latin America.

The country’s neighbors are slamming their doors. Peru, Colombia and Argentina have suspended flights from the country. Only two of the top ten destination countries for Brazilians are still open to them. “If Brazil is not taken seriously, it will continue to affect the entire neighborhood there and beyond,” warned Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organization.

That a variant like p.1 was born in Manaus is not a surprise, he assured The Economist Natalia Pasternak, microbiologist who heads the Questão de Ciência Institute, which advocates the use of science to shape policy. The first wave in the city was so severe that some thought group immunity had been obtained. Residents flocked to the beaches at the first opportunity, giving p.1 a quick start to life. When he emerged from the jungle, other parts of the country gave him the same welcome. Although in Brazil very little genetic sequencing is done to know with certainty its degree of spread, studies carried out in the state of São Paulo identify the variant in 80 to 90% of cases.

P.2, another disturbing variation of Rio de Janeiro, is also spreading.

“There is a much more transmissible virus,” Brazilian biologist Natália Pasternak told CNN. “It’s going to infect more people, even more young people, ”he said.

307,112 Brazilians have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to government data, a higher death toll than any other country outside the United States. In recent weeks, Brazil has overtaken the United States in daily infections and deaths, making its Covid-19 outbreak the worst in the world.

The country, of 212 million inhabitants, is facing the “biggest health and hospital collapse” in its history, according to the Fiocruz Foundation. Of the 27 states, 25 have an ICU occupation equal to or greater than 80%. AND hospitalization of a younger population increases the pressure.

In 18 states, there is a shortage of drugs such as neuromuscular blockers, which are used when patients are on ventilators. In six states, oxygen supplies are dangerously low, according to the Department of Health. The National Governors Forum warns that shortages threaten to cause “collapse within collapse.”

San Pablo, for example, recorded the first death last Thursday due to lack of space in an intensive care unit. The victim: a 22-year-old man.

“The stay in intensive care beds has almost doubled (from 15 to 28 days). This is explained because we have received young people who are more resistant to the disease than the elders ”Graccho Alvim, president of the Association of Private Hospitals of Rio de Janeiro, told Globo newspaper.

Additionally, Brazil has fewer social distancing rules than some other countries, and President Jair Bolsonaro has openly opposed the closures, mocked people who care about the coronavirus, and lobbied local governments to let them lift the restrictions.

“Seriousness is rare”, he denounces The Economist to explain why the mismanagement of the pandemic in Brazil is a threat to the world. “Bolsonaro proclaimed healers healings, lambasted the blockades and tried to block the release of data. He has just sacked the third Minister of Health (an army general) since the start of the pandemic. Vaccines are not for him, Bolsonaro said. His government was slow to ask for them, despite the fact that manufacturers like Pfizer and Janssen tested them in Brazil, ”he accuses.

This month, the federal government finally agreed to buy the vaccine from Pfizer and the single dose from Janssen. They will complement the AstraZeneca and Chinese CoronaVac vaccines already administered. Brazil has also started domestic production. Fiocruz delivered its first homemade doses of AstraZeneca; the Butantan Institute in São Paulo has started manufacturing CoronaVac.

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