There are 6,823 corona patients in Belgian hospitals. Enough to be able to make a good estimate of the average clinical picture and the characteristics of the sick. What is striking: the admitted patients are less ill, but often too fat. About that writes Het Laatste Nieuws.
People get sick less.
“Compared to the first wave, fewer patients end up in intensive care. At the moment it is between one in five and one in six, while in the spring it was still one in four, ”says Philippe Devos of the Liège hospital CHC. “So we have fewer patients to be intubated, but of course all patients need oxygen. I suspect that the explanation lies in the fact that we have all started wearing mouth masks, and that has not missed its effect. Beware: even if you wear a mask, you can get infected, but with a very small dose of the virus. In that case there is a good chance that you will become much less seriously ill. ”
Patients spend less time in hospital.
“The recordings are shorter compared to the first wave,” says Devos. “Now patients stay in the hospital for an average of six days, compared to ten days in the spring. That has a lot to do with the anti-inflammatory dexamethasone. It is not a miracle solution, but many patients do improve quickly when we administer this corticoid. ”
Obesity remains an important factor.
“Most patients admitted to intensive care are still men with a BMI of more than 31 ″, says Sabeth De Waele, head of Intensive Medicine at UZ Brussel. A BMI of 31 has a man of 1.80 meters who weighs just over 100 kilos. ”
Devos: “But still – and I want to emphasize that too – one in three patients has no medical history whatsoever. Until admission, they were in perfect health and a healthy weight. In general, in this case it concerns people over 65 years of age. ”
Bron (nen): HLN
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