Brazil has more young patients than older patients in intensive care – telam

The number of people under 40 with coronavirus who had to be admitted to intensive care exceeded that of older groups last month in Brazil, a researcher said today, as the situation in the country continues to deteriorate. worsen due to the new variants. virus.

Specific, The number of people aged 39 or younger hospitalized in intensive care units due to Covid-19 increased significantly in March and passed the 11,000 mark, or 52.2% of the total, according to the UCI project..

At the start of the pandemic, this figure was only 14.6% and between September and February 45%.

“Before, it was a population that normally only developed a milder form of the disease and did not need intensive care. The increase in this age group is therefore very significant, ”explained Dr Ederlon Rezende, coordinator of the project, an initiative of the Brazilian Association of Intensive Medicine (AMIB).

Segn RezendeAmong the factors that could lead to the increase in the number of young people hospitalized is the fact that most patients over 80 are vaccinated and the propensity of those under 40 either because they leave their homes to work. or because they think they are less vulnerable.

Experts also attribute the situation to the new Brazilian variant of the virus, known as P1 or Manaus, whose figures suggest it may re-infect people who contracted the original version of the virus.

“Younger patients, and without pre-existing pathologies, also arrive in intensive care units with more severe cases”, added Rezende, quoted by the AFP agency.“

The number of patients in intensive care without pre-existing pathologies increased by almost a third in March, to 30.3% of the total.

And the proportion of patients on ventilators due to the pandemic hit a record 58.1% in March, according to project data.

Amid the alarming national situation, a campaign for the vaccination against Covid-19 became the target of ridicule on the internet when some observed that a man was shown with the mask upside down and, in the face of the scandal, the government of Rio de Janeiro, one of the states most affected by the pandemic, should have apologized.

“Thank you for pointing it out; the communications professionals of the Rio de Janeiro State Ministry of Health and the Public Relations Office apologize for not noticing this error in the use of the mask in the campaign, ”the ministry tweeted. state of health.

Acting Governor Claudio Castro has been criticized for refusing to abide by measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, as has his far-right ally, President Jair Bolsonaro, and his government faces accusations of mismanaging the health crisis, and several former officials, including former Governor Wilson Witzel, have been exposed for embezzlement.

Brazil had since the start of the pandemic 13,482,023 confirmed cases of coronavirus (37,017 in the last 24 hours), of which 1,248,083 people had the active infection and 353,137 died of the disease (1,803 on the last day), the Ministry of Health reported tonight.