Younger People Hospitalized for Covid: Average Age Drops by 10 Years
The General Director of the Princess Grace Hospital Centre, Benoîte de Sevelinges, recently spoke to Monaco Info News about the increasing number of hospitalizations in Monaco. The Director said that not only has the pandemic returned to Monaco, but the average age of patients being hospitalized for Covid-19 is getting younger.
The average age of patients hospitalized for Covid-19 in the Principality was once 74 years old, but that number has dropped to 64 years of age recently, due to new variants of the virus.
As of last Wednesday 11 August, six patients in intensive care are between 46 and 81 years old, some without pre-existing health conditions. Among the 18 other hospitalized patients, the age varies from between 36 to 97 years. With the exception of one person, all patients that have been hospitalized since the beginning of July were unvaccinated.
What are the symptoms of Long COVID?
In Monaco as of 16 August, 54 people are being followed by the Home Monitoring Centre which medically supports patients with mild symptoms who are self-quarantining at home. Teams from the CHPG are now treating certain patients for long Covid.
Long Covid is when symptoms of the virus continue for over 12 weeks after the initial infection. Not much is yet known about long Covid or what causes it. One theory is that the virus makes certain immune systems go into overdrive, attacking not just the virus but the patient’s own tissues. That can happen to individuals who have very strong immune responses. Symptoms of long Covid include tiredness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain or tightness, problems with memory or “brain fog” and changes to taste and smell.
According to recent studies in the US, as many as 40% of people with long Covid have reported improvements to their symptoms after being vaccinated. Theories suggest that the vaccine could be stopping a harmful immune response or that it might reset the immune system somehow. Currently, 93% of doctors at the CHPG have been vaccinated.
I’d like to get vaccinated against Covid-19. What do I need to do?
In order to get vaccinated, you can contact the Covid-19 Call Centre at 92.05.55.00 from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.
