Young Covid patients hospitalized for respiratory assistance “mostly unvaccinated”

People in their 20s and 30s are among the Covid-19 patients who need to be hospitalized for respiratory assistance, an infectious disease consultant said yesterday.

r Eoghan de Barra of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin said the age group of Covid-19 patients to be admitted has decreased compared to previous waves and the majority are not vaccinated.

The Delta variant is not more severe on those it hits, but it is much more contagious, he stressed.

However, hospital doctors are now more experienced in treating Covid-19 patients and helping to avoid them having to go to intensive care, he told the Independent Irish.

“We have learned to manage it better so that they can stay in a ward rather than going to intensive care.”

Drug treatment, including steroids, means that some patients can be released in a matter of days or a week, even if they are still in the process of regaining their health.

He was speaking as 1,558 more cases of the virus were confirmed yesterday.

The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients rose to 262 from 221 on Friday. There are 51 of these patients in intensive care, up from 43 in recent days.

Limerick University Hospital intensive care consultant Catherine Motherway said earlier yesterday that the most critically ill patients are mostly unvaccinated and may have underlying conditions such as obesity, heart disease and lung disease.

They also see patients who are vaccinated but who have not benefited as much as the general population due to their weakened immune systems due to an organ transplant or leukemia.

Overall, however, the number of hospitalizations, while on the rise, is well below the pre-vaccination numbers we saw earlier this year when 220 were in intensive care.

Dr De Barra said that “if everyone does their part to prevent the virus from turning into a bigger storm, they will reduce the amount of virus around” and this will benefit everyone, including people whose immune system is weakened.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “We are closely monitoring the spread of the virus with some concern.”

Although “we have increasing levels of vaccination in the population, there is now a very high level of disease circulating in the community.

“The Delta variant has allowed Covid-19 to gain a foothold in Ireland, which puts us all at risk as social contact and mobility increases. “

He added: “I ask people to be careful and to closely follow public health advice over the next few weeks, especially as schools approach reopening in September.

“Please get vaccinated as soon as a vaccine is offered to you. It is also very important that people receive their second dose of vaccine as soon as you are called upon to do so. You will be fully protected within a week or two after your second dose. depending on the vaccine you received.

Midwestern public health doctors said they were seeing the highest levels of Covid-19 since February.

The region, which includes Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary, sees cases in long-term care, workplaces, social settings and a small number of sports teams.