The boom ofinfluenza and the simultaneous increase in infections from Covid alarm i emergency room Italians. To issue the warning fabio de iacopresident of the Italian Society of Emergency and Urgency Medicine (Simeu) who explains how this mix of viruses is putting hard test the hospitals.
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Widespread criticism
De Iaco at Ansa explains how the critical issues are no longer localized, but also widespread in Regions considered virtuous. «The accesses have intensified by about 50% compared to what we saw in September,” he explains worried. A flu, the one we are seeing this year, not only much more virulent, but even arrived a month earlier than in previous years. “The difficulty they can only get worse in the coming weeks. We expect the peak during the holidays, when we will have more elderly patients, but also more sick colleagues and therefore the need to cover more shifts with the same staff, which is already very scarce”.
Situation dramatic
The situation, he specifies, “is dramatic almost everywhere that can no longer be located only in regions such as Lazio, Sardinia, Piedmont, Campania, Lombardy, but also in Veneto, Emilia Romagna Tuscany or Friuli Venezia Giulia”, explains De Iaco. For the flu, the wave began about 3 weeks ago: «they started coming in emergency room receives i childrenbut now the age is rising, which will increase during the partiestraditional moment of exchange of virus between generations. Compared to the normal trend of epidemics from flu viruses, we see numbers that pre-pandemic were reached in mid-January ». Added to this is the increase in circulation of the Coronavirus, which goes far beyond the official numbers certified by swab positivity. «Many arrive with flu symptoms in the emergency room and we discover that it is Covid-19 only at the time of the swab. On the other hand, the symptoms today are indistinguishable. And for the positives we have difficulty finding space and staff for theisolation».
Space problem
The «spaces» problem, in fact, remains an unresolved knot together with that of personal. «Due to the shortage of hospital places and the weakness of assistance in the area, patients waiting for hospitalization stuck in the emergency room are growing day by day. In many cases we have up to 30-40-50 people waiting, basically ‘ghost wards‘. This involves ambulances stopped because they cannot load stretchers, but also tired staff beyond exhaustion and exasperated patients ». In fact, «it is no longer an emergency because everything is expected but nothing is done to avoid it. We witness a collapse drama that we have been denouncing for some time – concludes De Iaco – the lack of measures is incredible”.
Last Updated: Monday 12 December 2022, 19:11
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