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Hospitals in the southern United States were quickly inundated with COVID-19 patients as cases continue to rise amid the wave of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
And while there are indications that Delta transmission tends to subside after about 50 days, some healthcare professionals see it getting worse before it gets better.
“We have seen it pick up again with children, young adults, young women, pregnant women, unfortunately,” said Dr Ellen Eaton, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. , on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “And as cases have increased, we have also unfortunately seen hospitalizations and deaths. We think it will get worse. All hard data suggests it will get worse before it gets better. Our cases continue to reach record levels day after day. “
Alabama, where Eaton is based, currently ranks fourth in new cases. Hospitalizations have increased 44% in the past 14 days while cases have increased 42%.
“It’s pretty overwhelming here,” Eaton said. “We had a lull this summer. May, June, our hospital started to empty. We were able to resume these services that we know are so important – procedures that may be elective but remain essential for our patients. And then with the month of August, we really saw the Delta variant take off.
Delta variant “patients are definitely sicker”
While the elderly population of the United States was initially the hardest hit group at the start of the pandemic, that has since changed due to the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
According to Kaiser Health News, 90% of people aged 65 and over are fully vaccinated, which represents more than 49 million older people. Now it is young Americans who are hit hardest by the virus.
“Certainly this group that we are seeing now is younger,” Eaton said. “They are mostly unvaccinated. If the average age is between 50 and 60, that still means that we see people in their 20s and 30s, in addition to some people in their 70s, 80s. The patients are definitely sicker.
Overall, 60.2% of the population aged 12 and over is fully vaccinated, while 71% have received at least one dose. Vaccination has slowed as the number of people persistently refuse to be vaccinated despite scientific evidence showing that vaccines make a significant difference in preventing serious illness and death.
“For our young unvaccinated patients, 20, 30, 40, 50 years old who are not vaccinated, the Delta variant is much more serious in them,” Eaton said. “We see them coming earlier. We see them requiring survival ventilation, even ECMO. And this has also been the case for our pregnant women.
Eaton noted that 39 pregnant women had been hospitalized in August in his hospital, which was more than the peak of the virus in December 2020. Of that group, 10 were admitted to intensive care and seven required intubation.
“If there is a group that is considered young and healthy, it is because they are at the peak of their lives,” said Eaton. “The fact that they are able to get pregnant usually suggests that they are in good health. They often have young children at home.
Children are another relatively vulnerable group, especially those under 12, as they still cannot be vaccinated.
“There are some who are under two years of age who require intubation and have no health issues,” Eaton said. “I have a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old who are not vaccinated, too young to be vaccinated. It’s very scary to know that the level of community spread in my community, in schools, is frankly a huge risk factor for my unvaccinated children.
More than 180,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 during the week ending August 19, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Cases in children have increased significantly since early July and now represent 18% of new weekly confirmed cases, resulting in more hospitalizations.
“I think it just shows that it’s a different virus,” Eaton said. “It’s a different demographic that’s affected. Unfortunately, it is an unvaccinated group that is affected.
Adriana Belmonte is a journalist and health policy and policy editor for Yahoo Finance. You can follow her on Twitter @adrianambells and reach her at [email protected].
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