Covid-19 in Costa Rica: A lingering threat despite declining numbers

Covid-19 is not the emergency that one day sent the world’s population to stay at home, however, the disease has not gone away. This is evidenced by the 10 people who, on average, have died every week in Costa Rica, from January to October, due to complications of this disease.

As of week 40 of 2023 (which runs from October 2 to 8), the Ministry of Health registers 403 deaths linked to the pandemic virus.

Of course, thanks to vaccines, previous infections and less aggressive variants, the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not the same as in the previous three years. However, it can still be serious and fatal in individuals with weakened immune systems, older adults, or those with chronic illnesses.

The most recent Health epidemiological report It does not account for the sex, age or risk factors of this year’s fatalities, but it does reveal data on the behavior of the disease.

Thus, for example, it shows that it had two phases. The first covered the first 17 weeks, when 70.72% of the deaths occurred and the average weekly death toll was 12.65.

The second goes from week 18 to 40. In these 23 weeks the weekly average of deaths dropped to 5.13. However, there are fluctuations, such as in week 40, in which the death of seven people was reported, after two weeks in which three were recorded.

“If we look at the total for the year, it is not a negligible amount. Even in recent months, there is an average of almost one death per day. One would think that since it is a fairly preventable disease, we would not have any reason to have such a large number of deaths,” commented epidemiologist Juan José Romero Zúñiga, from the National University.

The week with the most deaths so far is week 10 (March 5 to 11), with 25; and the one that has had the least is the 20th (from May 14 to 20), with 1. So far there has not been a single week without a report of at least one death.

For Romero, deaths are one of the most reliable data in Costa Rican statistics on this disease, so they give a fairly faithful reflection of the behavior of this virus in the country.

“They are perhaps the most credible data. The dead are the ones that are best diagnosed, because there is greater certainty as to whether or not they had the virus and it is known that the main diagnosis as the cause of death was covid-19,” she highlighted.

In this context, hospitalizations may not be as accurate as they once were, since it is likely that some of the people in the hospital are with the virus, but not because of it.

Added to this is the fact that the information on hospitalizations, with the exception of the National Children’s Hospital (HNN), is not so detailed. The cases are not a reflection of the disease, since not all people with symptoms are screened and not all health centers perform tests.

“From the data we can conclude that there are people who continue to die from covid-19, we have infected children; They are not the majority, fortunately, but they are subject to the possibility of coinfections with other respiratory viruses. It continues to be a disease that we must be aware of,” Romero warned.

Covid-19 entered the country on March 6, 2020. In 2020 and 2021, it was the main cause of death, displacing acute myocardial infarction in those two years.

The deadliest year was 2021, with 5,096 deaths, which is explained because the restrictive measures of 2020 slowed the advance of the disease in that period, even though vaccines were not available at that time.

In total, in the three years, 9,371 people have died due to complications from covid-19.

Covid-19 outbreaks

From the Health epidemiological reports, a phenomenon stands out that, in previous years, with a greater presence of the virus, was not appreciated, but that under the current context is. These are outbreaks, clusters of several cases of the disease linked to a certain place or situation.

Until week 40, there had been 45 outbreaks, an average of 1 per week. These have fluctuated between 0 and 5 per week.

94% of the outbreaks are linked to three types of places, which due to their conditions of greater exposure to the virus or greater overcrowding are more prone to this type of greater number of cases.

Health Services: 22 outbreaks (49%) Long-stay homes, whether for older adults or people with some type of disability: 13 outbreaks (29%) Prisons (institutional care centers): 7 outbreaks (16%)

To these must be added three outbreaks in communities that were not specified by the Ministry.

The circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes this disease, is not as widespread as in previous years, but the same Health report shows that it is among the most registered currently.

According to the document, the respiratory syncytial virus is the one with the greatest circulation, followed by the rhinovirus and SARS-CoV-2; Of the latter it is indicated that “there was an increase in detection.”

In mid-August, the Ministry of Health announced the new guidelines for covid-19, after considering the end of the pandemic. According to them, surveillance of the disease will only occur in 25 health areas that have since functioned as sentinel sites.

Among these places are, for example, Barranca, Garabito and Cóbano, in the Central Pacific region; Los Santos, Grano de Oro, Desamparados 1, Mata Redonda, Zapote-Catedral, Pavas, El Guarco, and Coronado, in the Central South region, as well as Corredores and Hospital Escalante Pradilla (Pérez Zeledón), in the Brunca region.

Scenes of people wearing masks are no longer common, but specialists advise wearing them if you have symptoms of covid-19 or another respiratory disease or if you are going to be in very closed and poorly ventilated places. (Jose Cordero)

Impact on children

The National Children’s Hospital maintains the most accurate records of hospitalizations related to the pandemic disease. Until the 41st week of the year (October 9 to 15), 158 children had required hospitalization. This is an average of 4 a week, with fluctuations between 0 and 14 admissions.

No details are given about the ages of the minors, but there is other data linked to the vaccination that is applied to children six months or older (there is no vaccine for children under six months) and these are alarming.

48.2%, or almost half, of those over six months of age did not have a single dose against covid-19 and only 14.9% had the complete three-dose schedule.

“Vaccines save lives and prevent children from going to the hospital. We need a good reception from parents,” the now former director of the pediatric medical center, Olga Arguedas Arguedas, had warned in August 2022.

What actions to take?

Although we are not at the same point as two years ago and the restrictions that we once had are not required, there are measures that can be taken to avoid contagion and, if suffered, avoid complications. These are some:

Do not go to work or study centers with symptoms of any illness. Take advantage of the value of teleworking. Keep the vaccination schedule up to date. Maintain hand washing. Not only against covid-19, but also against other diseases, this also prevents diarrhea and other respiratory tract diseases. Look for open and ventilated places, make sure that closed places have doors and windows, so that air flows. Have cleaning protocols and air conditioning filters. Sneeze protocol. Good nutrition, good hydration, outdoor exercise. Assess and be aware of our personal risk of complications if we become infected. Take care of the most vulnerable people. If you have symptoms and you cannot avoid leaving the house, wear a mask, this can protect those around you from being infected by you from any respiratory transmitted virus. Do not underestimate any symptoms, get tested if in doubt.
2023-10-18 11:00:00
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