High death rates among severe COVID-19 courses in New York – Naturopathy & Naturopathic Specialist Portal

Largest COVID-19 case study from America published to date

Even in hospitals with the latest equipment, critical COVID-19 diseases in New York are often fatal. The largest case analysis from America to date shows that 39 percent of all intensive care patients die. The most common complications that lead to death are lung, circulatory, or kidney failure.

The largest American COVID-19 case study to date from New York City provides information on how the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus affects adult patients in the United States. The analysis shows that 22 percent of the cases treated in the hospital are critical and that 39 percent of those affected die among the critical courses. The study was recently presented in the renowned journal “The Lancet”.

Overview of results

More than one in five COVID-19 cases treated in a New York City hospital is critical. During the critical course, more than every third affected person dies. Four out of five patients with critical courses had to be artificially ventilated. According to the study, risk factors associated with hospital death are older age and the presence of chronic heart or lung diseases.

Similar results as in China, Italy and England

A detailed report documented 257 COVID-19 sufferers who were admitted to two hospitals in New York City, USA from March 2 to April 1, 2020. The patients were followed up for at least 28 days. The results reflect reports from China, Italy and England, the researchers report.

USA is the most affected country in the world

“There were over 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 90,000 deaths in the United States,” explains Dr. Natalie Yip, one of the authors of the study from Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center. Although the clinical spectrum of the disease has been characterized in reports from China and Italy, understanding of how the virus affects critically ill people in the United States has so far been limited to smaller case reports. The current study aims to identify risk factors associated with the death of critically ill COVID-19 patients in a US hospital.

1,150 COVID-19 cases examined

The study focused on two New York City hospitals connected to Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center in northern Manhattan. Between March 2 and April 1, 2020, 1,150 adults with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were admitted there. Of these cases, 257 people (22 percent) became seriously ill and had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.

By April 28, 2020, 101 of the critically ill patients had died (39 percent). In 94 cases, treatment was still ongoing and 58 of the 257 sufferers were discharged from the hospital alive.

Most common symptoms when hospitalized

The most frequently reported symptoms in hospital patients were:

How long have they been ventilated?

More than three quarters (79 percent) of critically ill COVID-19 sufferers required mechanical ventilation. The patients spent an average of 18 days on a ventilator. This period varied between nine and 28 days. Around a third (31 percent) of these cases developed severe kidney damage during the illness and required additional therapies such as dialysis.

Two thirds of the critically ill were men

The majority of critically ill patients were men (67 percent, 171 out of 257 cases). The majority of critical illnesses occurred from an age over 62 years. However, every fifth person affected was under 50 years old (22 percent; 55 out of 257 people). Over 80 percent of critically ill patients had at least one chronic illness, with hypertension (63 percent; 162 of 257 cases) and diabetes (36 percent; 92 of 257) being the most common. In addition, half of all critical cases were obese.

Five percent of the deaths were in the medical field

The study emphasizes that people working in the healthcare sector are at increased risk. 13 of the 257 critical cases were medical workers. However, it could not be determined with certainty whether those affected had become infected during work. However, the finding clearly shows that employees who come into contact with those affected by COVID 19 need consistent access to personal protective equipment. (vb)