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The virus has adapted to humans.
Professor Saulius Čaplinskas, infectious disease specialist lrytas.lt argued that the incidence of serious diseases in people of working age may be a consequence of the loss of alertness.
“Younger people are more mobile, less protective, perhaps wearing medical masks incorrectly and becoming more infected. The more they become infected, the more they end up in medical institutions. Unfortunately, it has long been clear that young people can also become seriously ill and some may not even survive. Some people are not even aware that they have comorbidities that can be aggravated by the coronavirus, “said the professor.
He also explained that the virus “became a human virus” due to natural evolutionary selection and was able to adapt better and better. “The virus is looking for ways to infect human cells as quickly as possible, no longer a bat or other animal.” It adapts in such a way that the cells of the human respiratory tract multiply the virus as much as possible. When a virus acquires such a property, it is necessary to inhale less for the disease to develop, ”said S. Čaplinskas.
According to the professor, it is realistic that a virus that multiplies faster could cause a “clinically expressed disease” more quickly. Therefore, in some cases, the disease can be more serious.
S. Čaplinskas recalled that some older people have already been vaccinated, and people of retirement age who have not yet received the vaccine are less socially active and less mobile than people of working age. “But their immediate environment, maybe children, grandchildren, can still transmit the virus to them,” said the infectious disease specialist.
Therefore, he believes that the need to vaccinate the elderly and patients with chronic diseases as soon as possible remains relevant.
He also receives treatment in the hospital for 22 years. patient
Representatives of the Kaunas clinics told the lrytas.lt portal that they do not keep statistics on COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the region by age. “Recently, however, it has been noticed that hospitals are treating younger and younger people, that is, people aged 50 to 65,” the treatment center said in response.
During a press conference on Monday, Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius announced that almost all COVID-19 beds were occupied by VMKL, and half of the patients were under 65 years of age. Therefore, a large proportion of seriously ill patients are not yet included in the government’s priority vaccination groups.
Aistė Noreikaitė, communication specialist at Klaipėda University Hospital (KUL), which coordinates the treatment of COVID-19 patients in western Lithuania, informed the lrytas.lt portal that a total of 26 COVID-19 patients are being treated currently in hospital.
20 patients are treated in Infectious Diseases of COVID-19. Of these, 8 are women and 12 are men. The youngest patient is a 22-year-old man. The main patient is a 90-year-old woman. The health conditions of all patients are satisfactory. 6 patients are treated in the intensive care unit. Three of them are women and three are men. The youngest patient is a 47-year-old woman, the oldest patient is 86 years old.
It is true that overall morbidity rates have not yet reached a fixed peak at the end of last year.
“Comparing the situation with December last year, when COVID-19 was at its peak, the situation is significantly different. In December, the number of COVID-19 patients ranged from 100 to 130.
At present, almost all KUL workers have already been vaccinated with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Hospital staff are systematically and periodically screened for COVID-19 infection according to established procedures. Last week, 171 hospital workers were prophylactically examined, with no positive cases. There are no COVID-19 patients and no infected workers, ”said A. Noreikaitė.
Offers to launch the vaccine
Vytautas Usonis, a professor and physician at the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, regretted that the Government has not listened to the opinion of health experts on the COVID-19 vaccination policy. According to him, changes in the vaccination program would help reduce the incidence of people of working age.
“The group-at-risk strategy that is in place in our country has probably already played its role and younger groups should now be vaccinated more widely. lrytas.lt confirmed V.Usonis.
S.Čaplinskas has a similar opinion. He said that since, for one reason or another, the remaining older people could no longer be vaccinated quickly, it might be more appropriate to give the vaccine to younger people who carry the disease and could infect the same older people.
He also noted that very little is still known in Lithuania about who is at the highest risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus. “It is still not clear where the most dangerous places in Vilnius are in terms of gender, age, profession, leisure activities,” said S. Čaplinskas.
We remind you that the Chancellor of the Ministry of Health, Jurgita Grebenkovienė, has previously said that the start of mass vaccination in Lithuania can be expected in late May or early June, depending on the municipality.
