The discovery of the new Omicron variant, which is spreading from South Africa and has also reached Israel, puts the health care system on a new alert from the fifth wave of the corona - which may arrive.
Senior members of the public health system told "Israel Today" about the fear of it, and the ways in which it will be possible to prevent it.
Prof. Nimrod Maimon, chairman of the internal medicine division and director of the corona department at Soroka Hospital, said of the fear of the fifth wave against the background of the discovery of the new variant: "The hospital faced all previous waves, In terms of the immunization rates of the population around Soroka, we are in the worst place, because of the large Bedouin sector. On the other hand, it is a relatively young population, and on the other hand, we do not know if the variant harms young people. It's quite safe against infection in high probability. "
"We are not talking about insufficiency."
Prof. Maimon, Photo: Soroka Spokeswoman
Regarding the congestion in the hospitals, Prof. Maimon said that "we were prepared for the first wave of the scenario where 80% of the hospital will be dedicated to the care of Corona patients and 20% to the other wards. Since in previous waves we have not even approached such a situation, no one is talking about a state of inadequacy. "One might say that the quality of treatment can decrease to a certain level, if densities and loads are created, but no one expects the fifth wave to reach such dimensions, due to the high immunization rate in the population."
Prof. Oren Vegetarian, director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Kaplan Medical Center, who was one of the top doctors at the front in previous waves, told Israel Today that "the fifth wave may be imminent, and its scope will be greatly affected by the way it is chosen." Which may slow the spread and prevent patients from entering the country, but mainly increase the rate of immunizations. It is very high that even if vaccinated people become infected and get sick, the disease will not develop into a serious disease. "
"High evasive ability from the immune system."
Prof. Vegetarian, Photo: Gilad Shaabani Chopin
On the overcrowding in the hospital, Prof. Vegetarian said that "a high rate of serious illness can create a burden on hospitals, especially on intensive care units and inpatient wards. In relation to the new variant. "
"There will be more variants"
"The world is expected to see more such variants, moving from countries where the virus is out of control mainly because they do not store enough. The corona will not disappear as long as there are enough points in the world. The severity of the next wave in Israel depends on the variant's ability "The vaccine, and the thing we can influence the most - the vaccine rate. In the next two weeks we will get more answers about the relative infectivity of the variant and the effectiveness of recovering and vaccinated antibodies against it. Regarding the vaccine rate, we can only complain to ourselves."
"A situation not worth returning to."
Prof. Mevorach, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Prof. Dror Mevorach, director of the Corona Internal Medicine Department at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, added to the concerns: "The main fear of the new strain is that it will infect quickly and be resistant to the vaccine.
Hadassah is prepared for a fifth wave on the border of patients, which will affect the entire country.
To prevent deterioration there are several important points: vaccination, wearing masks, being careful in crowds - especially indoors - and vigorously monitoring the airport.
Insufficiency begins in 600 severe patients in the country.
We were already in a situation of 1,200 seriously ill people in the country in the third wave, and this is a situation that is not worth returning to. "
Dr. Ortal Ne'eman, director of the Corona Women's Department at Assuta Ashdod Public Hospital, refers to the staff's experience: "The hospitals have gained a lot of experience in the last two years in treating Corona patients. Our HH, work and prepare themselves for any situation.
It is up to each variant to re-challenge the system and test its durability.
However, Israel has a good health care system, which has to go a long way before it reaches insufficiency. "
Ready for any situation.
Dr. Ne'eman, Photo: Liron Moldovan
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