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COVID-19 is a disease that can have unpredictable developments in an extremely short time, doctors warn. Blood oxygen saturation is one of the most important factors in the follow-up of a patient confirmed with SARS-CoV-2, even asymptomatic.
The manager of the “Marius Nasta” Institute, Beatrice Mahler, explained in an intervention at Digi24 that oxygen saturation is measured with simple devices, which can be found in pharmacies, or even with the help of applications for smartphones. They can be used effectively at home and can save our lives. However, in its absence, other means are available for anyone to control their breathing.
Optimal number of breaths per minute
If a patient has been diagnosed with COVID-19 but has a mild form and is staying home in isolation, they should monitor their health. What has to follow?
First, temperature. But a high temperature, even 39 degrees, does NOT mean a risk of serious illness, Beatrice Mahler explained.
A parameter that can indicate a possible unfavorable evolution is number of breaths in one minute. We normally need to take 18 breaths in one minute.
When it’s the number of breaths reaches 30We already have a problem that makes us call the ambulance home and go to the first hospital, says Dr. Beatrice Mahler.
When we have to worry
In general, this respiratory rate, which is quantifiable, is associated with a decreased oxygen saturation, but we probably don’t all have pulse oximeter – They are those small devices that are attached to a finger with a clip and measure the oxygen level in the blood. They are very useful, with a note: this device should be allowed to stabilize for about a minute to see the true value of saturation. It has a sensor that often takes a few seconds to monitor exactly how much oxygen is loaded with hemoglobin, explained Dr. Beatrice Mahler, manager of the “Marius Nasta” Institute in the capital.
In addition to those devices on the finger, the new phones have some applications that can determine this saturation value and allow us to monitor our condition at home.
It should also be noted that the normal oxygen saturation value is NOT one hundred percent. We have to worry about when the saturation drops below 93 percent and when the pulse rises above 100 percent..
Other red flags. When we call 112
In the absence of such means, it may be useful to measure the respiratory rate and the degree of fatigue during normal activities.
A red flag is when we begin to do certain simple activities with difficulty, for example a displacement of 100 meters. Of course, if we have to stay isolated in the house, we cannot walk 100 meters, but the simple process of dressing and undressing that we do at home could be done with much greater difficulty and breathing much harder. We need time to rest after dressing or undressing.
The infection caused by the virus first affects the lung and then a change in saturation indicates that the disease is evolving and that we need to see a doctor. A saturation below 93 should be a cause for concern and should cause us to call 112 immediately and we should say on the phone: I have a saturation below 93 – 92, 91, which will cause the service to send an ambulance to take as soon as possible. the patient to the hospital. So a low saturation, below 93, means calling 112 and being rushed to a hospital, because the need for oxygen at that time must be met and it must be permanent, Dr. Mahler said.
When severe respiratory failure occurs
“When this percentage of oxygenation falls below 93 percent, within our body, the proteins that are synthesized by the body in response to inflammation begin to occupy those air sacs (in the lungs) and practically the oxygen that we introduce in the body when we breathe in its chest it no longer manages to reach the blood.Therefore, our organs are no longer oxygenated efficiently and then other processes occur that can lead to rapid damage to the body.
But even from this saturation of 93 we have some thresholds that must be carefully monitored. Many times, my colleagues report a saturation of 33 percent, 55 percent. When the saturation falls below 87 percent, the patient is in a form of severe respiratory failure, in which the need for oxygen is imminent. For this reason, in the reports she presented, from Italy, patients were helped with oxygen cylinders where they were, because the most important treatment is oxygen and it must be administered from the first moment, ”explained Dr. Beatrice Mahler.
Editor: Luana Pavaluca
