MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cases of Covid-19 on the rise in Argentine – “monitoring” required

On the other hand, the number of patients hospitalized in critical conditions declined

Argentine health authorities mentioned during the weekend that the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide has been on the rise in recent weeks.

National Health Minister Carla Vizzotti and her colleague from the Province of Buenos Aires Nicolás Kreplak admitted the new scenario required “special monitoring”.

In two weeks, there was an increase of 36%: 8,387 infected in the previous seven days; on April 24, 11,307; and on May 1, 11,443. The figures were still considered to be low thanks to the fact that vaccination is “advanced,” Vizzotti explained.

However, she urged the population to complete the first booster dose (third dose) and people included in priority groups to complete the second booster dose (fourth dose).

The increase in the number of cases was not translated into the number of fatalities, the authorities also explained.

On the other hand, the number of patients hospitalized in critical conditions declined. On April 17, 412 admissions to intensive care beds were reported, while by April 24 the number had gone down to 372 and to 339 by May 1.

In a related development, COVID-19 researchers have announced that a severe case of the disease can cause a drop in IQ similar to aging 20 years, tantamount to going from 50 to 70 in a matter of months.

“Previous research has indicated that people who have recovered from COVID-19 may suffer from lasting problems in terms of their ability to concentrate and problem solve,” noted study author Adam Hampshire from U.K. Dementia Research Institute Care Research and Technology Centre, in London.

“What we were trying to find out was how pronounced these [thinking] difficulties were in patients who had been more severely ill, which aspects of [thinking] were most affected, whether there was any sign of recovery over time, and what the underlying cause might be,” Hampshire added.

To that end, the research team focused on a group of 46 British patients who had been hospitalized with severe COVID-19 during the first few months of the pandemic (from March 2020 through July 2020). At the time, one-third had been so sick that they needed to be put on a mechanical ventilator.

Mental health assessments from six months after first being hospitalized revealed a significant drop in memory and concentration skills, alongside a notable slow-down in the ability to problem-solve accurately and quickly. Patients were often very forgetful, Hampshire stressed, struggling with the sort of “brain fog” that would often make it difficult to find the words to express themselves. The study team found that brain capacity damage would likely translate into a 10-point drop in IQ. “The level of [thinking] under-performance is similar to that seen when aging from 50 to 70,” he noted.