Doctors Talk Half-Lip Breakpoint, Warning: COVID-19 Lesions Are Sometimes Hard to See

Remigijus Mažeika, the head of the Šiauliai Republican Hospital, where one of the most complicated situations has been recorded for a long time, did not hide that there is a silent joy for a certain stabilization, but we still have to talk about it very carefully.

“It is very dangerous to speak of good news and some visible signs of stabilization, because experience shows that you have to live in a ‘mountain regime’.

We also had such stabilization over Christmas, but since it shook on Monday, we had a record number of patients, at least in Šiauliai. Therefore, any positive development should be viewed with great caution.

However, as far as we can see the indicators, so far growth has been observed in the Panevėžys and Vilnius regions, at that time in others a certain stage of the plateau is observed ”, he commented.

According to R. Mažeika, although there is not a very aggressive need to expand the number of beds now, tensions persist regarding resuscitation beds: “Their filling is very worrying for us, because these beds are very expensive and require a lot of staff “.

Often the course of the disease is unpredictable.

The head of the hospital agreed that the situation could be alleviated a bit and the decision was made to allow lighter patients to be treated in rehabilitation hospitals. However, the problem is that many of these patients require oxygen, so it would only be a solution for a subset of patients.

The interlocutor did not hide the fact that the situation of the severity of patients entering the hospital is constantly changing. According to R. Mažeika, one thing is clear: the disease is also dangerous for young people, especially those who are overweight and have diabetes.

“What we already know is that the risk for older people with comorbidities is very high. People with diabetes who are overweight, regardless of their age, are also at high risk.

In young patients, the course of the disease can also be very unpredictable: sometimes blood vessels are incomprehensibly damaged, sometimes kidneys are damaged. The next time it seems that the person is already recovering and then abandons all the functions of the body, a massive heart attack occurs, kidney failure occurs. There are really many cases of this type and they are not foreseen ”, said R. Mažeika.

He agreed that it is quite real that a person does not even know that they have diabetes or that they have another condition, and unfortunately, perhaps without further protection, they only find out about their condition when they are in a hospital ward.

The vaccine is one of the key safeguards

COVID-19, a vaccine that has finally reached Lithuania, is named as one of the safeguards that would help protect the healthcare system from exhaustion. Although their amounts are very small, R. Mažeika emphasized that it unequivocally gives much more hope.

“The vaccine is first and foremost the hope of the medical community that we will be able to work and provide services. This is a real gift. Of course, those amounts are very small, only a small part was obtained, so it is natural for someone to receive Not someone. This is known to create tensions, but we must realize that we cannot miraculously reproduce that vaccine in any way. But everyone will definitely have their turn, “he said.

According to the head of the institution, it was not possible to know how many people would want to be vaccinated a year ago.

“But now we can see that the doctors are vaccinating very willingly. There is confidence in the vaccine, the perception of the disease that without vaccination we have no alternative to return to normal life. Perhaps it is good that there are tails in the vaccine , so only a positive example is shown to the public, “suggested R. Mažeika to see the bright side.

Oxygen wards: in practically all hospitals

According to the chairman of the Seimas Health Affairs Committee, Antanas Matulas, the current difficult situation regarding the resuscitation of personnel in the departments is especially difficult. According to him, the nurses who work in them should mainly supervise two patients with COCID-19 or other serious diseases.

“However, currently a nurse cares for 10-12 patients, so it is difficult to achieve quality service. So, today, the main challenge to stop the number of deaths and infections is to jointly review and guarantee quality services “, said.

According to A. Matulas, not only the aforementioned vaccine, but also other solutions will help stabilize the situation.

“I think we can stop that collapse for various reasons. We have an approved PSDF budget, which is 375 million more than this year’s budget, and there are additional funds for supplements, medicines. The ministry’s budget also foresees significant amounts for the purchase of vaccines, equipment and protective equipment.

A decision to pay hospitals to install oxygen rooms is also in the works. Today, virtually all district hospitals have between 30 and 50 covidinių Beds. Expansion is still possible, but the most important thing is to keep the staff, and that will be helped by the vaccination that has started ”, said the parliamentarian.

The consequences for health systems are yet to come

Among other things, experts and politicians do not hide that a number of challenges lie ahead, when the consequences of a pandemic for the health system and human health in general may disappear.

“It seems that there will be problems, because what the representatives of SAM say, the effective vaccination, which reaches 65-70%, can last the whole next year.” The next thing we need to do is deal with the other consequences. The increasing excess number of deaths and increased mortality at home is of particular concern here, ”said Jurgita Sejonienė, a member of the Health Affairs Committee.

He recalled that during the first wave, the provision of medical care to patients who did not have Covid-19 was under mesh.

“While services are not reduced during the second wave, the scope of services, as in oncology, is decreasing and the question of whether the process is stuck in the primary chain, people do not receive referrals to prevention programs or simply they are afraid to seek help, “he said. .

The temporary working group “On the COVID-19 epidemic on the provision and availability of health services” established some time ago promises to find answers on how to avoid such problems in the future and organize all processes so that not only patients with Covid-19 but also all other diseases receive the necessary help. terms “.

As J. Sejonienė said, the first meeting has already taken place, the directions of the planned work were discussed, requests were made to send data to the responsible institutions, how the work of the institutions has changed, the patient registry has been changed, disease treatment options, etc. Contact was also made with patient organizations.