Rocio Magnani
07/14/2021 17:05
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 07/14/2021 17:05
The most tragic face of the coronavirus pandemic finally materialized in a figure of 5 zeros.
Behind the number there are faces, duels, hugs and truncated projects.
For infectologists, it is a moment of reflection on the evolution of the disease, the progress of science to understand it and the health measures that have sought to avoid this result for the country by all means.
Unfortunately, it was not possible.
How much is 100,000 deaths?
The SARS-CoV-2 "is
the most important pandemic
that Argentina has endured in its entire history," defines the pediatric infectious disease doctor Eduardo López, one of the Government's advisers since March 2020.
Explain: both in the duration, which is close to a year and a half, as well as in the geographical scope and the number of deaths.
The yellow fever epidemic, by contrast, lasted less than a year, was restricted to one area of the city of Buenos Aires, and was responsible for some 14,000 deaths.
In modern times "the most important pandemic had been the H1N1 flu," López continues with the review.
It also lasted less than a year, had a treatment, and the onset of the vaccine happened quickly.
"The number of deaths cannot be compared,
" he specifies.
"This year, if we extrapolate the death rate per day, I think we
can reach 140,000 deaths
from the coronavirus pandemic," he evaluates and specifies: "Those 140,000 deaths would be 20% of births in Argentina."
The number of deaths reached today already represents 14.28%.
It must be said.
The Covid-19 pandemic claimed many more lives due to neglect of other diseases.
Roberto Teijeiro, infectologist at Hospital Pirovano and member of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SAI), explains that it is something that "happened all over the world."
Farewell in a cemetery.
Argentina reached 100,000 deaths from Covid.
Photo: AP / Natacha Pisarenko
"The number of cases that the pandemic had caused the health system to be saturated and
put the diagnosis and treatment of other pathologies at risk
, especially in cancer, transplant, surgical and cardiovascular patients," he continues.
For his colleague, the infectologist Pablo Bonheví, it is important to point out that despite the higher number of cases,
the fatality in 2021 was lower than in 2020
.
"The number of deaths increases as the number of cases increases, because it works like a pyramid," he explains.
At the base is the number of cases with Covid.
Above, the hospitalizations.
Then the hospitalizations in intensive care.
Finally, on the tip, mortality.
That did not change, but the proportion of deaths in relation to the number of infections did change, because “ventilation techniques, the use of corticosteroids and anti-inflammatory drugs are better known” for treatment, but also thanks to vaccination, which does that "the majority of patients who die are
those who were not vaccinated or have comorbidities
."
“Last year we did not have any of these elements.
If we had had this number of cases in 2020, the number of deaths would have been much higher, he says.
To the extent that we can continue to vaccinate more people, the rate at which deaths occur will decrease ”.
Transfer of the coffin of a patient who died from Covid.
The fatality rate this year was lower.
Photo EFE / Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
In comparison today in the world,
the region with the most cases of coronavirus is Latin America
.
In Colombia there are more than 112,000 deaths from Covid and in Peru 187,000, the specialist points out.
He also asks to remember that although in this second wave intensive therapies "are on the verge of saturation and in some cases with an excess of patients, situations like those in Europe were not seen, where people died in the corridors of the hospital."
Could it have been prevented?
"One would like the number of deaths to be lower," says Bonheví.
If one had had
vaccinations faster, it
would have impacted on a lower number of deaths, but we must not forget that if we had had this number of cases last year, it would be a much higher number ”.
As for the future, he opined that, although there was a significant decrease compared to May 2021, “
the situation is not under control at all
.
We have to maintain the distancing measures and move forward with vaccination to prevent a regrowth.
Especially having the Manaus strain with community circulation, which is more contagious ”.
López, for his part, thinks that
the testing strategy could have been better
.
“In general, only the symptomatic was tested and there was very little scope of the Detect Program, which was not sustained over time.
Argentina tested much less than could have been done ”, he explained.
Care in intensive therapy.
Many of the patients with complications were not vaccinated.
Photo Ignacio Blanco / Los Andes
Second, “probably the possibility of vaccinating with two doses earlier would have had an impact.
The rate of vaccination has been slow so far
”.
One positive is that community circulation of the Delta variant has not yet been detected, not only more contagious but more virulent.
Teijeiro agrees with the previous ones: “The only way to avoid this number of deaths
was to get vaccines earlier
.
If something else could have been done I don't know.
Unfortunately, we were unable to get the number of vaccinations we needed early.
Now vaccination is accelerating ”.
“Depending on who we compare ourselves with, we can be better or worse.
But comparisons are always bad, because countries are not always the same.
We cannot compare ourselves with countries with an excellent health system or with other countries that do not even have a public health service ”, he said.
100,000 deaths “is a very important figure, with a great impact and I think that the most important reflection is to tell people that
we are still in a pandemic, circulation was not cut off
, we are close to winter holidays and we must ask that people move wisely, "he asked.
ACE
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