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Around a fifth of all hospitalized Covid-19 patients in Austria still require intensive medical care. Also, treatment options have not improved.
Austrian intensive care physicians are now sounding the Corona alarm regarding the resource situation for serious illness. This was emphasized by three recognized critical care medical societies in a joint press release. In the debate over intensive care capabilities for seriously ill patients with Covid-19 and the potential danger of SARS-CoV-2, experts on Tuesday warned against errors in judgment. The number of infections should not continue to increase.
Basically, it is appreciated that the issue of intensive care resources is playing an important role in public discussion during the corona pandemic, stated Klaus Markstaller, president of the Austrian Society of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine (ÖGARI ). However, this is often done “on grounds unrelated to intensive medical expertise.”
Markstaller, Michael Joannidis, President of the Austrian Society for General and Internal Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine (ÖGIAIN), and Andreas Valentin, President of the Austrian Association of Intensive Care Societies (FASIM), described the current situation of the crown in Austria as “still very worrying”. The number of hospital patients admitted to a normal ward due to Covid 19 disease in the past two months increased from 118 to 561, the experts noted. The number of intensive care patients has almost quadrupled. Between August 12 and October 12, it went from 25 to 97.
That’s why intensive care doctors are sounding the corona alarm
Nearly one in five people who must be admitted to the hospital due to a SARS-CoV-2 infection need intensive medical treatment, intensive care physicians noted. In the upcoming flu season, one can expect a “permanent additional requirement, presumably seasonally fluctuating, for intensive care resources,” said ÖGIAIN president Joannidis. These “peak loads” could be treated by hospitals for a short period of time through proper management, “however, the goal should be continuous care for all patients requiring intensive medical treatment.” To ensure intensive medical care for all critically ill people, it is necessary to maintain existing resources and, in some areas, expand them further, Joannidis emphasized.
Markstaller was unable to “understand” statements that treatment options for Covid 19 patients had improved dramatically compared to spring. “The fact is that since the beginning of the pandemic we have learned and continue to learn a lot about this disease, which at first was a great unknown. But it is also the case that the great therapeutic advances with substances for experimental use, on which many hopes rested, have not yet occurred, ”said the ÖGARI President.
“do everything possible” to avoid overload
Around a fifth of all hospitalized Covid-19 patients in Austria still require intensive care. “According to a current analysis by the Ministry of Health, those affected by people aged 50 to 64 have the longest stay in intensive care units and an average of 14 days. This also shows the high level of exposure to which they are exposed SARS-CoV-2 can mean our resources and that they should be avoided “, emphasized the president of FASIM, Valentín. Therefore, it is important to avoid new infections: “If we are no longer very careful and intensify our efforts to avoid infection, not only will the number of infections continue to increase, but of course the number of hospitalizations and cases requiring intensive care.” It therefore requires “every effort” to avoid a situation “in which we may no longer be able to provide all necessary services for all patient groups in routine care to ensure sufficient intensive care capabilities for the pandemic. “Valentine warned.
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