Public and private hospitals in SP have a high number of hospitalizations for Covid and flu

The simultaneous incidence of the new strain of the H3N2 flu and the omicron variant of the coronavirus has led to an increase in hospitalizations and visits to patients with respiratory symptoms in public and private hospitals in São Paulo.

Both viruses can cause Srag (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), a complication of the flu syndrome that is compulsory to report to the local health authority.

In São Paulo, according to the SMS (Municipal Health Department), there were 978 hospitalizations for influenza between epidemiological weeks 48 and 52 (from November 28, 2021 to January 1, 2022). Of these, 359 occurred between December 12 and 18. The data were consulted in the Covid-19 Panel of the municipality of São Paulo this Tuesday (4) and are provisional.

In 2020, in the same weeks analyzed, there were only four hospitalizations for the disease.

This Tuesday (4), at the Hospital Municipal da Brasilândia, in the north zone, currently focused on the reception and treatment of cases of Srags that are not caused by Covid, there were 121 patients hospitalized in ICU beds (intensive care unit). and 164 in the ward. Thus, occupancy rates were at 64% for the ICU and 75% for the ward.

In addition to Brasilândia, the Guarapiranga Municipal Hospital, in the south zone, is being prepared to receive infected patients.

Regarding Covid-19, according to SMS data, if the month of December is observed, a new increase in hospitalizations in the city of São Paulo began to be noticed in epidemiological week 49, starting on the 5th.

From December 5 to January 1, a period that comprises epidemiological weeks 49, 50, 51 and 52, there were 326 hospitalizations, according to data consulted on Tuesday.

The peak occurred in week 51, between December 19 and 25, with 108 hospitalizations. In 2020, between weeks 49 and 52, that number reached 6,552. At the time, the numbers of cases and deaths were also high.

SMS information also shows that in 1,323 hospitalized patients, Srag is listed as unspecified and in another 2,181 it remains under investigation. The information was also consulted in the Covid-19 Panel of the municipality of São Paulo this Tuesday (4) and is provisional.

The report also asked the State Department of Health for hospitalization numbers for flu and Covid-19, currently and in December, but the folder only provided those of Covid-19 this Tuesday (4). On the date, there were 1,163 hospitalized in ICUs and 1,888 in the wards of hospitals in São Paulo, between suspected and confirmed.

The state also did not respond if it has made or will make available an exclusive structure for the treatment of people with flu and Srag syndrome in the capital and in other regions of São Paulo.

In the private network, the movement in hospitalizations for flu and Covid-19 varies.

At Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, the volume of daily care in the emergency room of patients with respiratory symptoms quadrupled when compared to the first week of December 2021. Of the total number of patients treated, 10% registered a positive diagnosis for influenza in the first week of treatment. month. By the end of December, positivity had risen to 30%.

In this group of respiratory symptoms, the positivity rate for Covid-19 was, on average, 1.5% at the beginning of the month and 33% at the end of the period. On Tuesday, the institution had 35 patients hospitalized with Covid-19, three of them in ICU.

Of those assisted, 3% required hospitalization, 99.3% in apartments and 0.7% in the ICU.

At Sabará Hospital Infantil, 506 children were treated with IVAs (upper airway infections) from December 12 to 18. The following week, between the 19th and 25th, there was a peak of attendance, of 810 cases.

Hospitalizations increased from five patients, in the period from December 12 to 18, to ten from December 19 to 25, and four between December 26 and 31.

In Sírio-Libanês, 24 new hospitalizations for influenza were recorded between December 13 and 17. In the period from December 31 to January 4, there were 27 patients hospitalized with confirmation of the disease. In relation to Covid-19, in the first period, there were five new hospitalizations; in the other, there were 21 patients.

At the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, there were 49 patients with Covid between December 15 and 21 and 66 between December 22 and 28. As for those hospitalized positive for influenza, the institution had 21 on Tuesday (4) – data from previous weeks were not provided.

Samaritano and São Luiz hospitals were also sought after, but did not respond to the report.

For infectious disease specialist, pediatrician and director of SBIm (Brazilian Society of Immunizations) Renato Kfouri, the scenario of Covid is more uncertain than that of influenza.

“The epidemic [de influenza] lasts 4 to 6 weeks. With Covid, we learn every day with the new variants, vaccines and the duration of protection. It’s an even more uncertain scenario,” he says.

Anyone who didn’t get the flu shot in 2021 should do so now, even though they know they will have little protection against the strain currently in circulation, Darwin. And then you should be vaccinated with the new immunizer, scheduled for March.

Kfouri recommends four pillars against both Covid and the flu: vaccine, mask, distancing and natural ventilation in environments.

For Evaldo Stanislau de Araújo, infectious disease specialist and member of the Division of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases at Hospital das Clínicas, despite the high number of hospitalizations for influenza and Covid-19, it is unlikely that hospitals will become saturated again, since a large part of the population has some immunity, either from the vaccine or from the infection.

Still, he believes that it is necessary to rethink patient care.

“Emergencies are overloaded and one of the things that has made the work very difficult is the lack of rapid diagnosis. We need to accelerate and guide the patient from the point of diagnosis and isolation. My fear is much more associated with the first care, the gateway, than with the hospital network”, he says.

As for the influenza virus, in Araújo’s opinion, the epidemic must be fleeting. “It is already decreasing in some regions. We have to think in the medium term in the omicron and in the influenza in the short term. The increase in hospitalizations was already expected. First you increase the cases and then you start to see cases with more severity and complications.”

Despite the blackouts of the public notification system, there is also a perception of an increase in Covid cases after Christmas with the epidemiological participation of children.

“This delay in childhood vaccination in Brazil is criminal. We need to emphasize this in bold letters. Children should already be vaccinated,” says Araújo.

For the doctor, the cases of Covid-19 will continue to increase also due to the behavior of the population.

“I’ve seen people take the risk that it’s inevitable to get Covid right now and because of that they live life without limits. This is a mistake. People need to understand that in closed and crowded environments it’s to wear a mask.”

When to go to the ER if you have flu-like symptoms?

High fever that does not go down with antipyretics

Lack of air

breathing with difficulty

If you belong to risk groups (such as immunosuppressed people, people over 60 years old, with a chronic illness, pregnant women or women who gave birth in less than 14 days)

What care should be taken in case of symptoms?

If you are feeling sick, self-isolate and wear a mask indoors to avoid contaminating more people.

To avoid crowded emergency rooms, seek medical advice by teleconsultation, if possible

Get tested to find out what it is and treat it with medication prescribed by doctors

Fábio Pescarini collaborated