“Intensive care patients are on the rise, the most serious being the 52-year-old”

“We are recording a increased hospitalizations, even those in intensive care. A phenomenon tolerable by health establishments, which has nothing to do with what we saw in March, but which should not be underestimated ”. Tell Adnkronos Salute Massimo Antonelli, director of the Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care of Gemelli Irccs Polyclinic in Rome and member of the Scientific Technical Committee for the containment of the coronavirus, who explains that currently in the entire Lazio region there are about 25 patients in intensive care “6 of which with us, 3 in Tor Vergata, 10 in Umberto I.” Antonelli added that the misalignment with the daily data provided by the Lazio Region – yesterday it stopped at 17 hospitalizations in intensive care, with 410 patients in the hospital – is “probably due to a delay of the structures in the communication of the data” .

“Since July – explained Antonelli – we have seen the average age fall: first it was 60-65 / 80 years, then we saw patients from 40-60, while at the same time the report of the Higher Institute of Health indicated that positives were around 30 years. However, when a young person becomes infected and is scared or does not present any symptoms, it becomes a source of contagion within the family, for grandparents and parents. So today we are reviewing patients 65 to 70 years of age or younger: In intensive care at Gemelli we have 3 patients aged 45-55 years and 3 over 70. The most serious case is 52 years old and is in extracorporeal circulation ”, says Antonelli.

Coronavirus, increase in ICU patients: the graph

The number of critically ill patients obviously not growing only in Lazio. According to the data processed by the Gimbe Foundation in the week of September 2 to 8, intensive care increased by 33.6%. A signal that, according to Gimbe, requires “keeping your attention very high.” In the following graph (prepared by Today. based on the data provided by the Ministry of Health) it is quite evident that at the end of August the curve begins to rise.

Andreoni (Policlinico Tor Vergata): “Hospitals will get more crowded”

For Massimo Andreoni, director of the Infectious Diseases Unit of the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome, the increase in cases (and hospitalizations) is proof that the virus is regaining strength. “A few weeks ago – he explained to Cusano Italia TV – the new cases had an average of 25 years, today it has risen to 35 years. That means that from the street the epidemic is returning to the homes. As the median age will increase and start to reach 40-45-50 years, hospitals will become more crowded, intensive care will fill more“.

“SarsCov2 – he explained – is a virus that behaves abnormally, we are used to seeing that in acute infections such as flu, colds or pneumonia, the virus has a short duration. This virus, on the other hand, can even remain in the body for longer. 100 days. It is a new virus that is teaching us so many things. It is not easy to give answers, it is a world to discover for us. We have waited for the summer because we imagine that this virus would vanish, it tends to disappear. it did not happen, because it is a virus that adapts perfectly to our cells compared to other coronaviruses. “

The SARS-COV-2 coronavirus, he added, “is not very interested in climate change, in fact during the summer it has greatly revitalized the number of infections, also due to our behavior. In autumn we will be much less outdoors and more in places. closed, this simple banality will increase the number of cases. ”The closed environment, he concluded,“ facilitates contagion, so in these situations we will have to be especially careful. Every time we are indoors we must maintain attitudes of detachment and use of masks even more careful than what we do today. ”