- The head of the ICU at a hospital in Bergamo, in northern Italy, said that many patients who were treated for COVID-19 now have serious long-term health problems.
- Bergamo was the worst affected area in the worst affected region of Italy, Lombardy. Some 3,000 people died in Bergamo, with the Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in the center.
- In March, images of a shocking Sky News report were seen around the world from within the overwhelmed ICU.
- Dr. Roberto Cosentini, head of the ICU, told Sky News this week that “a significant proportion of the population” has “chronic virus damage” after recovery.
- He did not specify how many were affected. Several studies have pointed to problems in patients who had COVID-19, but have not yet reached firm conclusions.
- Cosentini said it is clear that the virus affects various organs, including the kidneys and the brain, not just the lungs.
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The head of intensive care at a hospital in northern Italy that was at the center of the country’s outbreak says that COVID-19 patients have been left with serious health problems that may never go away.
Dr. Roberto Cosentini, head of the emergency department of the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Lombardy, told Sky News “we see a significant proportion of the population with chronic damage from the virus.”
Cosentini did not specify how large the ratio was. Scientific studies have noted a number of serious conditions in post-coronavirus patients, but how widespread they are is still unknown.
The scenes from Papa Giovanni XXIII in mid-March went around the world after Sky aired a shocking video of his overwhelmed ICU.
At the time, Bergamo was the first seriously affected area in Europe, and the images of the outbreak were a shocking picture of just how serious the pandemic could be.
At one point, the Italian army arrived to transport bodies to nearby provinces because the morgues in Bergamo were overflowing. The victims were temporarily stored in churches or sealed in the rooms where they died.
A view of the Bergamo cemetery during a memorial service for the victims of COVID-19 on June 28, 2020 in Bergamo, Italy.
Alessandro Bremec / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Cosentini, who appeared in the video in March, told Sky News this week: “At first, initially, we thought it was a serious flu, then we thought it was a serious flu with very severe pneumonia.”
“But we later discovered that it is a systemic disease with vascular damage throughout the body with kidney involvement, brain involvement.”
“Therefore, we are seeing other acute manifestations of kidney failure requiring dialysis; or stroke, and then acute myocardial infarction, causing many complications or other manifestations of the virus.”
The long-term health effects of coronavirus are not known for certain, but several trends are emerging.
A man in Milan, Italy has his temperature controlled on June 13, 2020.
Maria Moratti / Getty Images
Breathing problems are regularly observed, which may include asthma from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and what some doctors call “post-COVID lung disease.”
A July 8 study from University College London looked at delirium, rare brain inflammation, and strokes in recovered COVID-19 patients.
Bowel, heart, and kidney problems are also common after recovery. Experts are also wary of the mental health effects of seriously ill patients.
The ICU of the Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital said on July 8 that it finally had zero patients with COVID-19, more than four months after receiving its first patient on February 23.
Bergamo is the most affected province in the Lombardy region, which is itself the most affected in Italy.
As of Monday, 16,748 people had died in Lombardy, representing 50% of the total of 34,954 deaths in Italy.
Coffins arriving from the Bergamo area are unloaded from a military truck that transported them to a cemetery near Milan, Italy, on March 27, 2020.
Claudio Furlan / LaPresse via AP
Bergamo authorities said on June 8 that a study had shown that more than 50% of people tested in the province have antibodies against COVID-19, according to Reuters.
Prosecutors in the province are investigating allegations of ill-treatment, neglect and wrongdoing by health professionals, filed by the families of the deceased.
So far 150 complaints have been filed detailing how his family members were mistreated, according to The Associated Press.
And Italian health authorities are warning of a second wave.
“Although the blocking measures allowed effective control of SARS-CoV-2 infection, widespread transmission of the virus persists when favorable conditions occur, causing outbreaks, including some of significant size,” the Health Ministry said Monday, according to the ANSA news agency.
“New cases of infection were diagnosed in almost all regions and autonomous provinces during the monitoring week from June 29 to July 5, with an increase in cases compared to the previous week in some areas.”
