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“Since Lithuania is currently in the zone of intensive spread of COVID-19 infection and the measures applied do not have a sufficient effect, a strategy for the protection of risk groups is necessary,” Vytautas Kasiulevičius writes on Facebook, Professor at the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine.
The professor first described several facts published by scientists about the disease itself.
A slide from the British Journal of Medicine (BMJ) shows that most people with C0VID-19 have mild to moderate illness. In this group, the most common duration of illness is 5 days (2 to 10 days). Treatment is symptomatic (fluids, rest regimen, acetaminophen, ibuprofen for fever and pain).
A severe course of the disease develops in a much smaller group of patients. In this group, the break point is 7 days, when you get tired of increasing shortness of breath, the pulse oximeter shows a decrease in blood oxygen saturation – the SpO2 index drops less than 92 percent. Go to the hospital where you will be given extra oxygen or other measures.
The professor recalled that it usually infects at least 15 minutes. when communicating with another person without a mask at a distance of less than 2 meters. “Recent data from the US shows that the risk of infection remains high when communicating with a sick person multiple times, with a single contact time of several minutes but a total communication time of more than 15 minutes. The illness usually begins 5-6 days after infection. A person with COVID-19 infects another 1-2 days before the onset of symptoms and can infect up to 9 days of illness, notes V. Kasiulevičius. – Although PCR samples detect SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA for an average of 17 days and even longer (maximum 83 days), virus cultures are no longer grown after 9 days of illness. Therefore, 10 days of isolation in case of disease to avoid infecting others is enough “.
How to reduce the number of seriously ill people? According to the professor, older age, male sex, and higher body mass index are known to correlate with a more severe course of the disease, but several chronic diseases are also associated with increased risk. “People with these diseases need to clearly communicate how they should behave to protect themselves,” writes V. Kasiulevičius.
Stay in the home group
The following groups of people should protect themselves from any contact with COVID-19 (high risk):
Patients after a solid organ transplant (liver, kidney, pancreas) (recipients) receiving treatment that causes long-term suppression of the immune system.
Cancer:
* Chemotherapy is currently available
* Radiation therapy for lung cancer
* Blood / bone marrow cancer at any stage of treatment
* Immunotherapy or antibody treatment.
* Applies to cancer treatments that affect the immune system.
* Bone marrow or stem cell transplantation in the past 6 months or immunosuppressive therapy
* Immunosuppressive conditions that significantly increase the risk of infection.
Severe respiratory disease:
* Severe asthma (≥3 steroid cycles in 12 months)
* Severe COPD (≥3 steroid cycles in 12 months)
* Cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, sarcoidosis, bronchiectasis or pulmonary hypertension.
Rare diseases or congenital metabolic diseases:
* Severe combined immunodeficiency
* Homozygous sickle cell disease (sickle cell anemia)
* Pregnancy is when you have severe congenital or acquired heart disease.
Strict social distance group
People with these conditions should avoid COVID-19, keep their distance, and wear masks as they are at medium risk:
Mild chronic respiratory disease:
* Asthma
* COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis)
* Alveolite allergies
Chronic kidney disease:
* Stage 3 or 4
* End-stage kidney disease requiring dialysis
* End-stage renal disease when transplant is scheduled
Heart disease:
* Congestive heart failure
* Heart valve disease
Chronic liver disease:
* Chronic infectious hepatitis (hepatitis B or C)
* Alcohol-related liver disease
* Primary cirrhosis of the bile
* Primary sclerosing cholangitis
* Hemochromatozė
Chronic neurological conditions:
* Epilepsy
* Parkinson’s disease
* Motor neuron disease
* Cerebral palsy
* Dementia (Alzheimer’s disease, vascular or frontotemporal)
* Down’s Syndrome
Diabetes:
* Type 1
* Type 2
Conditions or treatments that may increase the risk of infection (for example, steroid treatment):
* Rheumatoid arthritis
* Systemic lupus erythematosus
* Ankylosing spondylitis or other inflammatory arthropathy (eg, psoriatic arthritis)
* Connective tissue disease (for example, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, scleroderma, Sjögren’s syndrome)
* Polymyositis or dermatomyositis
* Vasculitis (eg, giant cell arteritis, nodular polyarteritis, Bechet syndrome)
Other health conditions associated with an increased risk but not assigned to a specific group. However, it is also recommended to avoid contact with COVID-19 in these conditions. The list of such diseases includes:
Cardiovascular diseases:
* Atrial fibrillation
* Recurrent diseases: myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, angina pectoris, transient ischemic attack.
* Peripheral vascular disease
* High blood pressure is detected and treated
* Hyperthyroid
* Chronic pancreatitis
* Nonalcoholic liver disease
* Malabsorption:
* Celiac Disease
* Steatorėja
* Peptic ulcer (stomach or duodenum)
* Osteoporosis and fractures of the hip, spine, shoulder or wrist.
Serious mental illness:
* Bipolar affective disorder
* Psychosis
* Schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
* Sudden depression
LIVE infection
* Hypersplenism
* Sphingolipidosis (pvz., Thai-Sachso League)
* History of thromboembolism
* Tuberculosis.
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