Posted on 09/03/2021 12:08:18 PM PDT by lightman
During earlier surges, most COVID-19 patients at Penn State Health were at least 65 and had other illnesses that made them vulnerable.
But that was before arrival of the more contagious delta variant, and before many people, including most seniors and other highly vulnerable people, were protected by COVID-19 vaccine.
“Most everyone we see in the ICU at this point is unvaccinated,” Dr. Fahad Khalid, the chief of hospital medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said on Friday.
About 43 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 at the medical center as of Friday morning, Khalid said.
Their average age is about 53, with some in their 20s and 30s, he said. One, in their 20s, was on a breathing ventilator as of Friday morning. Two others, in their 30s, were attached to ECMO machines, an extreme treatment that takes over the work of the heart and lungs.
Moreover, about half of the COVID-19 patients at the medical center are needing intensive care, compared to 10-20% during earlier surges, Khalid said. They also have fewer pre-existing illnesses than in the past.
“In the past, it was a lot of diabetes and obesity, but a lot of our younger patients are pretty healthy,” he said. “What we’re seeing is that these patients come in and get sick pretty quickly, requiring ICU level of care and requiring a lot of resources for us to take care of them, and then they are in intensive care for a long period of time.”
Khalid noted Penn State Health is seeing some “breakthrough” infections in people who are vaccinated. However, they are typically patients who test positive after being hospitalized for something different, such as a hip fracture. They typically don’t develop severe COVID-19 or need intensive care, he said.
He said most of the COVID-19 patients are infected with the delta strain, which is significantly more contagious than earlier strains.
Moreover, Dr. Catharine Paules, an infectious diseases specialist at the medical center, said there is new research from Europe that suggests the delta strain might make people sicker.
Khalid and Paules were among three Penn State Health doctors who gave an online briefing on Friday on the status of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania and in the Harrisburg region.
Dr. Peter Dillon, the chief clinical offer, provided some positive news, saying the latest models suggest Pennsylvania’s surge will peak in about three weeks and at a level well below that of the winter surge, which nearly filled hospitals and culminated in about 200 deaths per day in early January.
Pennsylvania as of Thursday was averaging about 24 deaths per day, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University.
Many doctors say Pennsylvania’s relatively high rate of vaccination should help us avoid the levels of infections and hospitalizations seen during the winter peak.
However, Paules warned against being “lulled into a false sense of security by the vaccination rates in our region. They are not high enough to prevent a surge. We’ve seen this in places like Israel that are highly vaccinated.”
She said the Labor Day holiday has potential to trigger spikes.
“I would encourage people, if you’re going to gather, to keep it outdoors,” she said.
The doctors were asked about the impact of COVID-19 among children. Nationally, children are accounting for a significantly larger portion of positive cases than in the past, and the number of hospitalized children has surged to the highest point in the pandemic.
No vaccine had been approved for children under 12, leaving children as the largest unprotected group.
As of Friday morning, three children were hospitalized with COVID-19 within Penn State Health, a spokeswoman said.
Paules said the impact on children shouldn’t be measured in terms of hospitalizations or deaths. Rather, some children who come down with COVID-19 develop long-lasting problems. “I think these long-term complications will not be trivial,” she said.
Because of the present high level of community spread of COVID-19, Paules said she is advising all of her patients, including children, to wear face masks while in crowded spaces, and noted she and her children wear masks in those situations.
Pretty meaningless without comorbidity info, age, etc.
Besides why are they never mentioning how many DEATHS are being caused by this “surge” in cases.......?
“Give it a month or two and I suspect we will see the same numbers Israel is seeing.”
If you believe the reports at all.
I don’t.
agreed.
Seems awfully odd that a variant of an elderly killing bug now goes after the young.
If the Marek’s disease science plays out in humans….a leaky covid vaccine led to a more virulent strain of virus infecting younger victims
Sadly in the case of Mareks, the vaxx chickens still got sick…but the virus mutation they passed along killed every. single. unvaccinated. chicken.
In other words…this is the growing result of a mass immunization policy in the midst of a pandemic of a fairly nonlethal illness ( 99.5% recovery by young healthy people) …using imperfect vaccines.
Yes, follow the science….but FDA and CDC say not THAT science…
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/tthis-chicken-vaccine-makes-virus-dangerous
Good point. I don’t either.
The vaccine is causing sickness. The younger people taking the jab are immediately getting violently ill. I have no doubt there are younger people in the hospital, but the reason is the key to understanding why. The covid propagandists are claiming because the bug is now affecting the younger crowd.
99.98% last I checked.
Pennlive carries the water for the DNC and Covid cultists.
20s & 30s getting out and living life. Some will get it pretty bad.
“Most everyone we see in the ICU at this point is unvaccinated,” Dr. Fahad Khalid, the chief of hospital medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said on Friday.”
were any jabbed in the past 13 days?
Maybe they got too close to “shedders”.
How many were “vapers”? Remember the Pre-CHINUS crisis of teenagers with injured lungs because they vaped a combo of Pot and Vitamin E?
Bull crap.
EVERYONE I KNOW CURRENTLY INFECTED, INCLUDING SOME IN THE HOSPITAL AND SOME NOW THAT HAVE DIED IN THE LAST WEEK, HAVE ALL BEEN FULLY VACCINATED!!
I call absolute BS on this story.
Vaccination status has ZERO impact on the likelihood you will catch or pass on this virus, not even the manufacturers of these shots make those claims.
Only thing they do do is statistically lessen odds you will die if you get infected, that’s it.
Headline reads “Often in their 20s or 30s...”
Article states: “...with some in their 20s and 30s.” Average age of hospitalized is 53. What is the average age of death or we gonna ignore that?
Hmmm sorta misleading?
Sure, go ahead and swallow the propaganda!
Seems awfully odd that a variant of an elderly killing bug now goes after the young.
The older the demographic, the more likely to have been vaccinated people are. The 65 and up group are over 80% fully vaccinated now and have lowered their risk factor greatly. Though having been among the first to have received inoculation, the level of protection will also be the first to wane requiring a booster soon.
Lots of mushy wiggle room in their reporting.
“One, in their 20s, was on a breathing ventilator as of Friday morning. Two others, in their 30s,”
THREE people. That’s it. That’s their claim that “of often”.
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