With ômicron, hospitalization for Covid in SP drops from 11 to 6 days

The length of stay for Covid in an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) or ward bed in the state of São Paulo dropped earlier this year compared to previous waves of the coronavirus.

According to the State Department of Health (SES/SP), a patient is now hospitalized for an average of six days, a 55% reduction compared to March last year, when an average of 11 days was needed.

According to information collected by UOL from SES/SP and which were not confirmed for the leaf, the separate data on hospitalization in ICU beds point to a decrease from 12 to 7 days and, in infirmary beds, from 9 to 3 days with the omicron variant.

This Monday (31), the number of patients hospitalized across the state with suspected or confirmed Covid was 11,316, of which 7,322 were in the ward, and 3,994 were in the ICU. The occupancy rate of state beds is 70.6% for the ward and 72.1% for the ICU.

Despite the high occupancy, the number of new admissions showed a small reduction compared to the previous seven days. On the 24th, the moving average of daily admissions was 1,480; on Monday, it dropped to 1,183 (a 20% reduction).

As reported by the leaf, the capital of São Paulo is experiencing a slowdown in new cases of Covid, but the interior still concentrates a high number.

According to the State Secretary for Health, Jean Gorinchteyn, currently most hospitalizations are in infirmary beds and not in ICUs, already indicating a lower severity of cases treated in public hospitals in SP.

“This also compromises less the health system because the time to renew beds is faster than we have seen in the past,” he said.

Even so, the governor of São Paulo, João Doria (PSDB), announced last Wednesday (26) the opening of 700 new beds for Covid in the state network. According to the Health Ministry, the redirection of exclusive beds for Covid care for other causes was paused in January, and new beds can be activated if necessary.

Although it is already well established that this strain is more transmissible, with greater reproduction in the upper airways and, therefore, increasing transmission from one person to another, the most recent scientific studies indicate that it may also be associated with a lower severity, precisely because it does not reach the lungs as much.

Data from both Brazil and other countries, such as the United Kingdom and South Africa, indicate that the Ômicron causes a much larger wave peak, but of shorter duration. In addition, the large number of vaccinated people in the population can result in milder hospitalizations.

According to data from the Vacina Já state platform, the state of São Paulo has 96.73% of the population over 18 years of age with a complete primary vaccination schedule, a rate that reaches 80.57% in the general population. In children aged 5 to 11 years, more than 1.2 million received the first dose of the vaccine, which is equivalent to 30.1%.

For infectologist and Fiocruz researcher Julio Croda, these data collected from other countries on the profile of hospitalized patients do reveal a reduction in the proportion of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths with the Ômicron in comparison with the other strains.

“Data from the UK public health system indicates a reduction in the risk of hospitalization of around 50% with the omicron compared to the delta, irrespective of the vaccine. In addition, vaccines can reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 20 times”, it says.

Croda, who was once part of the Coronavirus Contingency Committee in the state of São Paulo, dissolved in mid-August and now has only nine doctors and specialists, explains that this reduction in hospitalization time is related to the lower severity of the omicron and the immunization, since the period tends to be shorter in vaccinated people.

“People hospitalized in this wave of the pandemic in São Paulo do not, in general, progress to ICU admission, even if they are more serious, such as a drop in saturation, need for oxygen, they do not progress to endotracheal intubation, which is the biggest reason for admission to the ICU”, he says.

Although it has already been demonstrated that the Ômicron manages to partially evade the antibodies produced after vaccination, especially the so-called neutralizing antibodies, capable of preventing the entry of the virus into cells, protection against severe cases, hospitalization and deaths remains.

The doctor warns, however, that in a situation where most of the population is vaccinated, as is the case in São Paulo, there will be a group of individuals, even with a complete primary vaccination schedule (two doses or a single dose, in the case from Janssen) or who has already received the booster dose, who may have a serious condition, be hospitalized and, eventually, die.

“But it is a very small number. As with other respiratory diseases, there are always some people, especially older people, at greater risk due to the presence of other comorbidities, immunosuppressed, who become ill and may be at greater risk for hospitalization and death” , says.

According to state data, says Croda, about 91% of those admitted to ICU beds in the state are people who have not received the complete primary vaccination schedule.