“Fourth week with a minus sign for the Covid hospitalization curve” in Italy: “-9% compared to seven days ago (-0.7)”. This is what emerges from the survey of sentinel hospitals belonging to the Fiaso network, the Italian Federation of health and hospital companies, dated 10 January 2023. According to the report: “43% of hospital beds are occupied by patients hospitalized ‘due to Covid’, with respiratory insufficiency or pneumonia. Their proportion has been growing for a few weeks, from 32% a month ago. 79% of these are patients vaccinated for more than six months, with an average age of 76 and with other pathologies”.
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On the other hand “the percentage of hospitalized ‘with Covid’ drops to 57%, i.e. patients who have arrived at the hospital for the treatment of other pathologies, are positive for the virus but do not have respiratory and pulmonary symptoms – continues Fiaso – There is also a slight decrease intensive care: -6.3%. 67% of these patients are hospitalized ‘due to Covid’, with serious consequences of the Sars-Cov-2 infection. 30% are unvaccinated subjects with an age average of 68 years”.
As far as pediatric patients are concerned, “the number of patients under the age of 18 hospitalized in the four pediatric hospitals and in the pediatric wards of the hospitals of the Fiaso sentinel network is stable. No children in intensive care – concludes the report – 86% are hospitalized ‘for Covid’, with respiratory symptoms, and 93% of pediatric patients with Sars-Cov-2 infection are aged between 0 and 4 years”.
“Let’s look at these data with cautious optimism” on the trend of Covid hospitalizations in Italy. “The next 2 weeks will be crucial in understanding what the repercussions on hospitals could be given by the increase in infections recorded in the latest surveys by the Higher Institute of Health. If the hospitalization index does not grow significantly, it means that the currently circulating variants impact less on the risk of hospitalizations”, underlined the president of Fiaso, Giovanni Migliore.
“In any case, we must keep our attention high – he underlines – to look at what happens with the infections linked to the reopening of schools, including for seasonal flu, and intensify the vaccination campaign. The frail are always exposed to the serious consequences of Covid and continue to be the most present in our hospitals”, concludes Migliore.
