Pediatric ICUs in Colombia have availability of 24%; alert remains

This Friday, June 10, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MinSalud) rendered a new series of reports on the epidemiological situation in the country and the behavior of the covid-19 virus in the national territory, during the Unified Command Post ( PMU) for the care of covid-19 No. 134.

John Delgado, director of Service Provision and Primary Care, referred to the behavior of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed occupancy, which remains stable at the national level and in which the bulk of cases are not covid.

However, he assured that The alert remains in pediatric ICUs, “where there is greater pressure, because there is only a national availability of 24%”.

Delgado warned that, although it is largely due to the non-Covid respiratory peak that has been going through the country for more than a month due to the more than 21 viruses that normally circulate in Colombia, the guard should not be lowered in anti-Covid vaccination in minors. old.

The departments of Casanare, Quindío, Sucre and Boyacá are at 100% occupancy in the pediatric ICUfor which the official stated that they are working with these territorial entities.

Other services such as Emergency and Pediatric Hospitalization have also been impacted at the national level, while for adults the situation is controlled.

Delgado pointed out the importance of the information provided in the PMU for decision-making and differentiated actions in the country’s municipalities, to care for the pandemic and other pathologies such as the peak of acute respiratory infections (ARI) that is occurring.

The authorities have emphasized the need to protect children with self-care measures, such as the use of face masks in the presence of respiratory symptoms. – Foto: Getty Images / Catherine Delahaye

In turn, Claudia Cuéllar, director of Epidemiology and Demography of the Ministry of Health, delivered the weekly report on the country’s epidemiological situation.

The official pointed out that from the Ministry of Health an increase in confirmed cases continues to be observed, but that “lethality remains stable, despite an insignificant increase”.

However, he warned that the accumulated positivity increased to 12%, when a decrease had been achieved, months ago, to 2%. “We haven’t seen spikes in any particular city, but that doesn’t mean they can’t happen,” she said.

Regarding the variant of SARS-CoV-2 that predominates in the country, Cuéllar confirmed that it is still omicron, with its subvariants BA.2, BA.2.12.1 and BA.4, for which he insisted on the importance of application of tests, in accordance with established guidelines, to maintain genomic surveillance.

In addition, he called for vacation care. “We know that this season is when there are more trips to the interior of the country and there are incoming and outgoing travelers from other countries, which is why it is very important to maintain self-care measures and be vigilant to avoid later peaks,” he added.

Finally, he remembered that The country is in a respiratory peak, in which viruses such as influenza type A and B and adenovirus circulate, which not only attacks the respiratory tract but also at the gastrointestinal level, especially in children.

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