for infectologists, the situation in the city is “very worrying” «La Capital de Mar del Plata newspaper

The head of the Marplatense Society of Infectology, Dr. Cristina Miglioranza, radiographed the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the city, describing it as “very worrying” and highlighted the work of the health teams, both in the private and public spheres.

He also appealed to social responsibility and called for “a change in behavior” to prevent the spread of infections.

The professional assured that “the numbers are the consequence of an increase that came progressively. The truth is that we expected a lot less but it was not like that ”, while qualifying the data from the last week as“ a very important escalation, hence the government decision ”to go back to phase 3 in the city.

Regarding the situation in Mar del Plata, the head of the Infectious Diseases service of the Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos (HIGA) and the Pueyrredon Clinic, described it as “very worrying” because “there are patients with suspected Covid, those who have confirmation Covid and the other patients who have nothing to do with the pandemic and who receive hospitalization for different reasons, both in the intermediate care unit and in the intensive care unit “, he detailed on the radio program in” La Contratapa “, yesterday 93.3 Atlántica Latina.

“To the usual occupation of beds due to common pathologies,” he added, “such as oncological treatments or wounds from a firearm or knife, both in the public or private sector, is added the requirement of a bed for those who enter with suspicious pictures of Covid that are later confirmed or not ”.

In that sense, he explained that the hospitalization of suspected cases of coronavirus must be carried out “in an individual room and that, in many institutions, also reduces the number of available beds. Few institutions have individual rooms and the authorities and the doctors who are in attendance are concerned that at some point the system will saturate and beds will be reduced ”.

As part of the health personnel who are on the front line against Covid-19, the professional pointed out that “it affects us directly” and described that “part of the team contracts the virus, some travel it at home, others are hospitalized and unfortunately we had the death of a health agent ”.

He also considered that the impact “also has to do with” the exhaustion that occurs when reducing the number of agents who continue to work, because the work for those who remain is increased: more hours of work, greater exhaustion and more exposure and greater illness ”.

Likewise, the president of the Mar del Plata Society of Infectology explained that “90 percent of local cases do not need hospitalization, however there is no awareness of what is happening. That is the main problem ”.

“We have been speaking from the beginning of the pandemic,” he added, “of different colors. The community in general is standing different from March, when it was new and fear had invaded us all. It was fear that made us stay home, ”she remarked.

In his opinion, after the first months of compulsory isolation, the situation changed “and fear was lost. The responsibility as citizens had to come and comply with the recommendations, not out of fear but out of conscience, taking care of oneself that also implies taking care of the one next to me. “

That misconduct, said the professional, is reflected in the traces of positive cases, since the main focus of the infections is visualized in the roasts, in the mateadas, in the clandestine celebrations.

“When the data is uploaded to the SISA (Integrated System of Argentine Health Information) – he explained – we started asking questions and looking for the contacts and it turned out that they were barbecued, birthdays, mateadas, a number of social events that do not occur in the restaurant of the back, but in a quincho, a living room, a fifth, private places ”.

Trabajo full time

Thus, Dr. Miglioranza and her colleagues found that “there is no social awareness of what is happening. This internal misconduct is the one that has the greatest responsibility for us having reached this phase backward movement that is so damaging to the city’s economy ”.

And, although he explained that “80 percent of those who contract the virus pass it at home, mild, 20 percent require hospitalization and 5 percent intensive care, which is the most sensitive point.”

“Things get complicated when admitted,” he described, “the patient suffers, as well as the family and the environment, because once admitted they do not have contact with the family until discharge. There are no visits, so in addition to the physical suffering there is emotional suffering, of the patient and the family ”.

In this sense, he highlighted the work carried out by “all the members of the health team, the value of the nurses, who have an important connection with the suffering patient because they are next to them” and also recognized that “there is fear of the unknown, of get worse and die ”.

Thus, he assured that both in the public and private sectors “hospitalizations are increasing” and stressed that “there are not infinite numbers of beds, despite the effort. And one can look for material and economic resources to have more beds or respirators, but not a doctor or a nurse to replace another who became ill. It is a finite resource to which you have to pay close attention ”.

And, in his opinion, that call for attention by the institutions, medical personnel and authorities, in addition to “concern” also generated “the setback of this week”, from phase 4 to 3, with the consequent prohibition of activities of all kinds .

Likewise, he recognized the “work of the entire health team” and said that “in all the institutions work teams were formed with young people, residents of medical clinics and intensive care, on-call teams, and others not so young who lead them. , with a spirit of struggle and dedication. They are the ones who are on the real front line every day ”.

“The drama is installed”

In the absence of the vaccine, Dr. Miglioranza appealed to “social behavior”, since “it will take months” until it is available. For that reason, she appealed to the need to “understand that we have to live differently, today we have and we count death. The drama is installed ”.

“Citizens have to understand,” he warned, that the way of life must be changed, because this will not be solved in a few days. Beds are occupied in hospitals and clinics and if it is not resolved and there is a change, it will become much more complicated ”.

In that sense, he considered that “changing human behavior is one of the most difficult things, it takes a long time, and the virus is not going to go away in a month or two. We have to deal with the vaccine, I’m talking about months, not a few days ”. “To recover life, the economy, emotional stability,” he said, “we have to behave socially in a different way.”

Finally, regarding the plasma treatments of patients recovered from Covid-19, he explained that “it was used without great difficulty in Mar del Plata, thanks to an enormous effort from the Hemotherapy Center and its specialists. Each patient is studied and the need of each one is determined ”. Although he warned that “there is no strict evidence of the effectiveness” of it as a treatment and there is still “no controlled trial to demonstrate its efficacy,” he assured that “there is improvement in patients who can receive plasma, which is an exhaustible resource because it depends of the donation of people who suffered the disease ”.

In first person

Dr. Cristina Miglioranza, in addition to presiding over the Mar del Plata Infectology Society, is the head of Infectology at the Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos (HIGA) and the Pueyrredon clinic.

Regarding his day to day, he assured that “it changed us all” and explained that he lives “with my family, with my cohabitants who are my husband and my two daughters”, while he confessed that “I do not see my brother or friends or my father, whom I gave the last hug on March 15 ”.

On a professional level, he pointed out that I never imagine living a situation like the current one, although “we had a trial with the flu pandemic in 2009, which did not have this dimension. The affectation that this other has is enormous ”.

“I have read, studied about similar situations such as the Spanish flu of 1920,” he added, “but none of us imagined living a situation like this, that’s why we are learning every day. We have gone back and forth in a lot of things and two words define this pandemic since March: dynamism and uncertainty ”.

recommendations

The infectologist Cristina Miglioranza recommended that “at the slightest symptom of a sore throat, feverish sensation, pooches, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, severe headache, dry cough, lack of smell” the doctor should be consulted “primarily by telephone.”

Also, if the symptoms affect a young person, he suggested that “do not go out to do their activities, people with symptoms do not have to go to work.”

On the other hand, he reiterated the need to respect “the social distance, from one meter and a half to two from the other, at all times; wear chinstrap, at all times; and wash their hands whenever they can, before touching their face, which is where the virus enters ”.

“Complying and enforcing these measures – he asserted – is the only way we have to stop this. If the virus does not find a human, the chain is cut “, he concluded.

–