According to a new study led by Monash University, of the patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19, after considering the age and how sick the patients were, the third wave of the disease in Australia was associated with higher risk. of dying in the hospital, compared to previous waves.
Patients admitted to the ICU during the third wave were mostly unvaccinated (75 percent), younger than the previous two waves (24 percent> 65 years), more likely to be pregnant and / or obese, and less prone to morbid co-conditions.
However, as the length of the ICU and hospital stay decreased, the risk of dying in the hospital increased. Interestingly, although fewer ICU patients received invasive respiratory therapies, the change in the risk of hospital mortality was observed primarily in those who had received mechanical ventilation. This observation is in the context of changes in the inherent virulence of the COVID-19 virus (e.g., the emergence of the delta strain), the adoption of new therapies in the ICU, and an increase in the volume of hospital admissions in general.
The research analyzed the evolution of patient characteristics, treatments, and critical patient outcomes in the first, second, and third waves of COVID-19 in Australia using data from SPRINT-SARI Australia, a hospital surveillance database. which allows real-time tracking. and notification of patients with COVID-19 to Australian hospitals and intensive care units.