Covid today in Italy, the curve of admissions for children and young people changes. “After more than a month of decline, the number of under 18 hospitalized in Covid areas returns to rise: in the week of March 8-15, the small patients admitted to the 4 pediatric hospitals and pediatric wards increased by 48%”. This is evidenced by the latest report by Fiaso, the Italian Federation of health and hospital companies, based on the survey in sentinel hospitals on March 15. Fiaso also analyzed the presence or absence of respiratory and pulmonary symptoms typical of Covid among the young patients in the hospital. Applying the distinction between hospitalized ‘for Covid’ and hospitalized ‘with Covid’ “it is possible to note how the children hospitalized ‘with Covid’, or patients treated for other diseases found positive for the virus, have more than doubled in a week. ‘for Covid’, on the other hand, they continue to slowly decrease “.
“The 48% increase therefore focuses exclusively on patients accidentally positive for the swab, and therefore isolated in Covid wards, but who require different treatments and therapies in the hospital”, explains Fiaso.
“The schools are all open and children represent the least vaccinated category of population ever – says the president of Fiaso, Giovanni Migliore – it is clear that with this still intense circulation and the presence of Omicron 2, the virus affects the least vaccinated subjects. 48% of the young hospitalized patients, in fact, are between 0 and 4 years old and therefore cannot be vaccinated “.
“The data on vaccinations of parents of newborns is still of concern: 46% of very young patients between 0 and 6 months ended up in hospital have both parents no vax and another 8% one parent vaccinated and the other not. . More than half of hospitalized newborns – he concludes – have no protection from the virus even on the part of family members who take care of them “.
On the other hand, the curve of admissions falls again, but much more slowly, among adults. In one week, the number of patients admitted to Covid areas fell by 5.2%. In detail, in the ordinary wards the decrease was 5%, while in the intensive care units the share fell by 7.5%. These are the data from the survey in Fiaso sentinel hospitals (Federation of health and hospital companies) on March 15. Hospitalizations, down since February 1, had recorded a drop of 16% last week.
In the last seven days, however – explains Fiaso – the effects of the rise in the contagion curve are reflected in hospitalizations. In fact, among patients in hospital, there is a slight increase of 2% in hospitalized ‘with Covid’ in ordinary wards, patients who arrived in hospital to treat other diseases and found incidentally positive for the virus thanks to the pre-hospitalization swab.
In intensive care, three out of four patients are hospitalized ‘for Covid’ with severe respiratory symptoms: 83% are not vaccinated or have not yet received the third dose, Fiaso highlights: “it is necessary to insist on the administration of the third dose which still many citizens they have not done and that serves to protect against the serious consequences of Covid “.