Home / Commentary / Might There Be A Higher Death Toll From Neglect Of Other Diseases, For Fear Of Contracting Covid-19?
Might There Be A Higher Death Toll From Neglect Of Other Diseases, For Fear Of Contracting Covid-19?

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Might There Be A Higher Death Toll From Neglect Of Other Diseases, For Fear Of Contracting Covid-19?

By Yvonne Sam
Contributing Columnist

Yvonne Sam -- newAfter almost two months-plus into a worldwide coronavirus lockdown, medical personnel believe that the pandemic has brought about a silent sub-epidemic of people, who need care at hospitals, but are afraid to go in. Yes, the virus has negatively impacted the healthcare system.

As the death toll from the new coronavirus rises in states, across the US, people are living in fear — afraid to call 911 or open the door to a first responder, who’s decked, from head to toe, in hazmat gear.

Additionally, many are reluctant to go to the Emergency Room, for fear of contracting the virus. This fear to go to the Emergency Room, includes people with infected gall bladders, bowel obstructions and, more ominously, chest pains and stroke symptoms.

In fact, doctors are concerned that mild stroke patients are at home, grinning and bearing symptoms such as paresthesia, loss of sensation or weakness on one side of their body. Symptoms of small strokes can be transient, but they also can be warnings of larger strokes to come. www.washingtonpost.com/health/patients-with-heart-attacks-strokes-and-even-appendicitis-vanish-from-hospitals/2020/04/19/9ca3ef24-7eb4-11ea-9040-68981f488eed_story.html?cv-ca.

Some folks, who suffer from exertional angina, are now sitting at home, rather than climbing the metro stairs, every day, and the threshold of discomfort that would drive them to seek medical intervention is likely far higher.

Some doctors worry that illness and mortality, from unaddressed health issues, may rival the carnage, produced by the virus in regions, less affected by COVID-19, the disease the novel coronavirus causes.

And some expect, they will soon see patients, who have dangerously delayed seeking care, as ongoing symptoms force them to overcome their fear. www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/coronavirus-is-scaring-people-away-from-the-hospital-some-are-dying-because-of-it/ar-BB13c25x.

Even pregnant women fear becoming infected — or exposing their newborns to the virus — and are choosing to give birth at home. Even when educated about the risks of home delivery, some expectant mothers believe the option is better than taking the chance of mom or the baby contracting the virus. www.thedailybeast.com/pregnant-people-turning-to-home-births-during-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic.   www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/interest-home-births-spikes-amid-coronavirus-expectant-moms-69965749

Patients with symptoms of heart attack and stroke are not the only ones, who dare not come in, despite needing hospital care. One patient endured excruciating pain from kidney stones at home, rather than going to the hospital.

“I was not going to take a chance of getting coronavirus, and coming out dead,” he said. “I should have gone to the hospital, because the pain was outrageous.”

The elderly, or those with previous illnesses, are considered a special risk group in the current Covid-19 pandemic, and since the aggressive SARS-CoV-2 virus primarily affects the lungs, many asthma patients are afraid they might have an increased risk of infection and of a potentially-severe case of the disease.

Additional uncertainty has been caused by indications that the immuno-suppressive drugs, frequently used by asthma patients, such as cortisone sprays, may further increase the risk of infection, because they downregulate the body’s own immune system.

In mid-April, the American College of Cardiology launched a “Cardiosmart” campaign, to convince a wary population and encourage those, with symptoms, to call 911 for urgent care and to continue routine appointments, when practical, through telemedicine. “Hospitals have safety measures to protect you from infection,” it reads. www.cardiosmart.org/Coronavirus.

Nowadays, in New York, some people, who suffer major heart attacks, never make it to the hospital, As EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) no longer carry out CPR on peopl, who have arrested — a procedure that has a low success rate and carries great risk of infecting first responders, if the victim is coronavirus-positive. www.jewishworldreview.com/0420/missing_patients.php3.

It is believed that the decline in admission of cardiac patients may be attributed to the fact, that heart patients may not be actually missing, but right there, among the most seriously ill on ventilators, with a few others dying at home or already in the morgue, as Covid-19 is also an inflammatory disease that can damage the heart muscle.

The virus, no respecter of age, stage, ethnicity etc., strikes most severely among individuals suffering from diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure — the same conditions that predispose people to strokes and heart attacks and that are most prevalent among Blacks and Hispanics.

Superimposed on the rigorous life-saving demands wrought by the pandemic, hospitals and healthcare personnel are now tasked with ensuring that people with symptoms, overcome their fears and seek prompt treatment that may save their lives and/or avert long-term complications.

It may become necessary for hospitals to reach out, via media and public service announcements, to allay fears about hospital safety.

Although the number of deaths in hospitals, from the virus, is less than that of  nursing homes and long-term residences for seniors, nevertheless, on account of the nature of the virus, and what little is known, the taking of chances should not be an option. The emphasis should be on safety and prevention.

Aleuta — The struggle continues.

Yvonne Sam, a retired Head Nurse and Secondary School Teacher, is the Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Cultural Association of Montreal. A regular columnist for over two decades with the Montreal Community Contact, her insightful and incursive articles on topics ranging from politics, human rights and immigration, to education and parenting have also appeared in the Huffington Post, Montreal Gazette, XPressbogg and Guyanese OnLine. She is also the recipient of the Governor General of Canada Caring Canadian Citizen Award.

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