The influx of patients with illnesses related to respiratory viruses, such as influenza or coronavirus, at health centers and emergency services in the Pontevedra Health District has decreased significantly in recent days and is considered to be “almost beyond” the peak. Condition type.
“At the consultation level in primary care and PAC, based on my experience and my discussions with colleagues, cases appear to be decreasing. Because the peak is one thing and the incidence is another, and the incidence is still high,” he Explained to FARO. Nino Barreiro, outpatient emergency physician at A Parda PAC and Cerdedo-Cotobade Health Center.
“We are getting better, but we have to remember that many epidemiologists say that another virus usually has a first peak and then a second peak. Regardless, I believe we are over the worst period. Indeed, the peak of influenza always happens in primary care, and then there is a seven-to-ten-day period when cases become complicated and noticed in hospitals, where there is an influx of patients waiting to be admitted. That happened with COVID-19 as well. Same thing,” the doctor reported.
“To be optimistic, we are past the worst of this season for respiratory infections,” he concluded.
It must be remembered that the most popular type this winter is influenza A, followed by influenza B and coronavirus. “In addition to this, many people were tested and although they had fever and cold symptoms, it was not these viruses,” Barreiro clarified.
Regardless, medical centers and continuing care sites (PACs) are used to the influx of patients during the winter. “Perhaps this year, after two years when mask use was the majority, the incidence is higher, we are seeing more patients and the volume of consultations is greater,” he admitted.
Symptoms of the flu or coronavirus are very similar, including fever, malaise… “A healthy young person can receive the usual treatment at home: rest, hydration, acetaminophen and/or ibuprofen to reduce fever… You should see a doctor when a fever lasts three or four days or is severe enough to cause a fever. It cannot be cured. Detected. It can be reduced with antipyretics. Also, if there are respiratory complications,” he concluded. “There is a popular belief that the flu will last seven days with treatment and a week without treatment. All you can do is avoid discomfort without taking it seriously.”
The last days of vaccination
Barrero said getting a flu shot is critical this year, especially for people who are older or have comorbidities.
The latest data from the Ministry of Health show that in the health zones of Pontevedra and Osalnes, 61,014 people over the age of 60 have been vaccinated against influenza so far (65.87% of the total). As for children under 5 years old, 4,021 have been vaccinated, but only 49.03%. The event ends next Friday, January 26th.
They decried the lack of doctors in Lama Prison, which was without a doctor all day.
In a statement, the lama unions ACAIP-UGT and CSIF denounced the lack of doctors at the Pontevedra prison centre. They said the situation resulted in “the center being unable to provide on-site medical services 24 hours a day for the first time in its 25-year history in January of this year.” What’s more, they claim “there was no medical staff present at the center for an entire day. ” and “the deterioration of medical care and the increased risk of regiment incidents are evident from this fact.”
ACAIP-UGT and CSIF decried the lack of medical staff and the “inability” of current prison administrators to address the problem. Specifically, they reported that “62 percent of physician positions in state prison facilities on job listings are currently unfilled.”
What they regret is Lama Prison is no exception, with “six out of eight doctor posts and the post of deputy medical director vacant”. “Health care is essential for the good development of daily life in prisons. The absence of a doctor compromises the health of prisoners, creates a sense of insecurity in the center and discomfort for prisoners and staff, while increasing the risk of incidents,” the unions concluded, as they recalled Said that in such centers there are situations that require – personnel and immediate medical assistance, such as attacks between prisoners, self-mutilation or poisoning due to consumption of drugs or substances banned in the centre.
“In order to solve this problem, the General Secretariat of Prison Institutions and the Autonomous Community of Galicia must take relevant measures to transfer prison health services to the CCAA,” they concluded.