Deaths from Covid fall in Brazil, but pandemic still requires care

The drop in deaths from Covid-19 in Brazil observed in recent weeks brings hope that the pandemic is at an end, but experts warn that the disease continues to kill and that care must be taken against the virus, with attention to vaccination.

On the 12th, the weekly moving average of deaths in the country was 64 victims, the lowest since April 6, 2020, when the health crisis was in its first month. On the 10th, there was the lowest average since April 7, 2020 (70 deaths). The data are from the consortium of press vehicles, which counts the numbers presented by the state health departments.

The situation in the country follows a worldwide trend of reducing deaths and cases that led the director general of the WHO (World Health Organization), Tedros Adhanom, to declare that we have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. “We’re not there yet, but the end is in sight,” said the director last Wednesday (14).

Adhanom highlighted that it is necessary to maintain measures against Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, as the favorable scenario offers a window to fight the disease. This is also what doctors and health experts heard by the Sheet.

“There is a direct correlation between immunity and cases. The less you vaccinate and protect yourself, the more the virus circulates, which means more cases, the more chances the virus will mutate and in one of these a more aggressive and infective subvariant will appear”, explains Evaldo. Stanislau de Araújo, infectious disease specialist at Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo.

In a context of withdrawal of the mandatory use of masks – which in São Paulo are no longer required on public transport this month – the doctor reinforces the importance of not abandoning protection.

“If you are going to an enclosed space, without air renewal and there are a lot of people, it is highly recommended to wear a mask. doors and windows open and vaccinations up to date, you can consider not using it.”

Alberto Chebabo, president of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases and medical director of Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho, at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), also advises the use of protection in situations where there is a significant risk of transmission – places with high agglomeration, transport public and poorly ventilated environments.

Who are the victims of Covid-19 today?

Chebabo says that deaths from Covid in 2022 are concentrated in the frail elderly over 75 years old, people with comorbidities, the immunosuppressed and those who do not have the complete vaccination schedule.

At the Instituto de Infectologia Emílio Ribas, which is a reference in the treatment of Covid-19 in São Paulo, the profile is similar. There were 37 deaths diagnosed with the disease this year – 25 of them in the first quarter. Of the total, 28 people (76%) were 60 years of age or older.

“The 37 deaths were of patients with comorbidities. Today, people aged 60 years or older, with at least three associated comorbidities and who did not take the fourth dose of the vaccine, are dying of Covid. Only three of the total had the complete vaccination schedule , that is, 92% were not vaccinated”, says director Luiz Carlos Pereira Júnior.

Of those under 60 years old, nine died — all with important comorbidities (such as liver cirrhosis, kidney failure, advanced cancers). Only one had taken the fourth dose.

At Hospital Sírio-Libanês, also in São Paulo, the average age of those who lost their lives to Covid is 82 years, according to doctor Felipe Duarte Silva, manager of inpatients and medical practices. In 2022, there were about 50 deaths in a universe of 1,000 hospitalizations. Half of the deaths were concentrated in the months of January and February.

“Today, elderly patients with comorbidities die more from Covid. He has underlying diseases, which end up decompensating for Covid, the sum worsens his health status and he dies. The vaccine is decisive in mortality, but there are people at risk of develop the severe form of the disease or even decompensate the underlying diseases”, explains Silva.

Other data, such as those compiled by the SP Covid-19 Info Tracker platform with information from civil registry offices, help to outline the profile of those who die most from the disease in the country today. According to the initiative created by researchers from USP and Unesp, between July 1 and September 14, 9,161 people died from Covid-19 – 4,810 men (52.51%) and 4,351 women.

The most expressive portion of victims was between 80 and 89 years old (28.95%). The second age group with the most deaths is 70 to 79 years old (23.57%), and deaths of elderly people aged 90 and over represent 16.12%.

The coronavirus has already killed more than 685,000 Brazilians since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2022 alone, more than 60,000 people died in the country from the disease. Retired Laércio Basílio, 82, was one of them.

He and his wife, Elza de Oliveira Basílio, also 82, caught Covid-19 together. The disease appeared as if it were a strong flu. She got better, he got worse and died on July 3, after repeated visits to the hospital in São Paulo.

Defender of the vaccine, Laércio had taken the four doses against Covid-19. But he had a heart disease, had a blocked artery and kidney dysfunction.

“If we don’t take care of ourselves, let it be for the people who can’t get Covid. Like him, others could be alive if it weren’t for those who didn’t take care of themselves”, says Simone de Oliveira Basílio Pereira, 52, one of the daughters

Another victim of the coronavirus this year, pedagogue Maria Bernadete Sena, 57, did not believe in the vaccine. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, she had been taking ivermectin weekly. Doctors have warned many times that the antiparasitic has no proven effect against the virus and that its use — encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) — could have serious side effects.

Bernadette and her husband were not vaccinated and became infected. He was fine. When Bernadette sought medical help, the virus had already compromised her lung.

The pedagogue was hospitalized on January 30 and died on February 26. During the period, she was in two hospitals, in Mauá and São Bernardo do Campo. “My sister worked with people who were against the vaccine, including a doctor, a friend of hers, in addition to her husband. She was an enlightened person, with training, but she was influenced. The family never understood why”, says sister Renata Sena Alves , 48.

Ieda de Araújo Camilo, 58, is another victim of Covid-19 this year — she died on January 24. The infection was discovered at home when she was discharged from the hospital where she was being treated for brain cancer. The coronavirus has compromised 100% of the lungs.

A community health worker for over 20 years, Ieda used her job to help others.

“If it wasn’t for the virus, my mother would still be with us. She taught us to go after what we want, no matter how hard it is. On the last day of my life, she asked me to take care of my brothers and to stick together. left”, says daughter Treicy Kelli Araújo Camilo, 33, who lived with her mother in Butiá (RS).