PAHO warns of increase in younger covid cases in the region

WITH 399 covid19 cases recorded on Wednesday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is highlighting the increase in hospitalisations and deaths of younger people across the Americas

In a media release on Wednesday director of PAHO Dr Carissa F. Etienne said Brazil’s mortality rates doubled among those younger than 39, quadrupled among those in their 40s, and tripled for those in their 50s between December 2020 and March.

“Hospitalisation rates of people under 39 rose by more than 70 per cent in Chile during the past few months. In Brazil, hospitalisations have been highest among people in their 40s. “In some areas of the US, more people in their 20s are now being hospitalised for covid19 than people in their 70s. This is tragic and the consequences are dire for our families, our societies and our future.”

Etienne noted that in the beginning of the pandemic, the hospitals were filled with elderly patients, many of whom had pre-existing conditions that made them more susceptible to severe disease. Now intensive care units across the region are filled with both elderly and young people.

“Since healthy young people are more likely to survive, they may remain in hospitals for weeks, she said. As a result, countries must be prepared for surging hospital demand. If infections continue to rise at this rate, we expect that over the next three months, countries across our region will need to maintain and even increase their ICU bed capacity further,” Etienne warned.

She called on health authorities in the region to hire and train more health workers and specialised personnel. She said existing health workers should be supported, since they were operating in “crisis mode” since the beginning of the pandemic. She added that there is not enough health workers to hire and train in time and as such the best plan is prevention and maintaining the covid19 protocols.

“While vaccines are being rolled out as fast as possible, they are not a short-term solution. We can’t rely on vaccines to bring down infections when there’s not enough vaccines to go around. They are one part of the comprehensive response that includes prevention through public health measures and improving readiness of health systems.”

Etienne said nearly 40 per cent of covid19 deaths reported last week, came from the Latin American region with countries reporting more than 1,000 cases a day. Infections are increasing in Guyanas and across Argentina and Colombia she said with weekly cases five times higher than they were for the same period last year.

“Puerto Rico and Cuba are driving infections in the Caribbean, although cases are also rising in many smaller islands. Nearly 70 per cent of total covid19 cases in Anguilla have been reported in the last ten days. Following the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano, cases are rising in St Vincent and the Grenadines among internally displaced people.”

In the last week, more than 1.3 million people were infected with covid19 in the Americas and more than 36,000 died from related complications.