A MAJORITY of the severely ill patients who were receiving treatment in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the National Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, Georgetown were also battling with comorbidities, according to Head of Internal Medicine at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Mahendra Carpen.
During a recent edition of the ‘Your Doctor and COVID’ television programme, Dr. Carpen provided information that indicated that there were a total of 201 COVID-19 deaths recorded in the ICU during the first six months of this year.
Importantly, out of those 201 patients who were infected with the disease, COVID-19 and subsequently died while receiving treatment in the ICU, a total of 172 of them had comorbidities. Contextually, patients who receive treatment in the COVID-19 ICU are those who are experiencing the severe symptoms of the disease and may have difficulties breathing on their own.
Comorbidities, Dr. Carpen explained, are other underlying health conditions that an individual may have. What this means is that in addition to grappling with COVID-19, the patients could have had other diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, kidney diseases, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis and asthma.
“I put this to you to highlight which group of persons are at highest risk,” Dr. Carpen said, emphasising that people with such comorbidities are more susceptible to the severe and possibly life-threatening effects of COVID-19.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, last year, comorbidities has been a central concern, since medical research found that patients with comorbidities were indeed at a higher risk. In fact, when Guyana had recorded its first six deaths by April 2020, the Guyana Chronicle reported that the people who died had comorbidities.
This has not changed and now, 16 months into the pandemic, Dr. Carpen has emphasised, “… this group of people (those with comorbidities) should be the first in line to get the vaccines.”
He added, “Even if you do get COVID, it will protect you and you won’t get the bad outcomes that you are particularly liable to without the vaccines.”
On this same programme, Dr. Carpen provided statistics to show that in the months of April, May and June there were a total of 152 COVID-19 deaths recorded in the COVID-19 ICU but none of those patients were fully vaccinated and only six patients received their first COVID-19 ‘jab’.
As such, he urged all individuals to come forward and take their vaccines. On numerous occasions, the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, has emphasised that no fully vaccinated individual has died after testing positive for COVID-19.
During one of his daily COVID-19 updates in June, he explained that vaccinated individuals may become infected with the coronavirus but those individuals would not experience the more severe, or life-threatening symptoms since they are protected by the vaccines.
