In the first wave, because non-emergency medical consultations and tests were suspended; later, because of the amount of medical supplies that the coronavirus absorbs, and now also because many patients do not want to go to the doctor unless it is an emergency. Some patients ask to postpone their checkups for several months for fear of contracting it.
“It was not yet possible to resume pre-Covid health care,” said Carina Escobar, chair of the Patient Organizations Platform, and many follow-ups are still remote (by phone or telematic), which “is no substitute for the necessary tests to arrive at diagnoses and treatments ”.
One of the reasons for the current traffic congestion is that many tests (endoscopies, biopsies) now require a negative PCR, explains Jesús García Foncillas, director of the oncology department at Fundación Jiménez Díaz hospital. “And this assumes a slight delay in diagnosis, although it has already been reduced to a minimum,” he says.
Chronic patients are among the most affected because, according to Escobar, “the health system is specifically designed for acute patients.” For example, according to the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), death from a heart attack doubled in the first phase of the pandemic and 28% fewer patients with heart attack symptoms were treated. Not to mention other pathologies such as cancer or rare diseases.
Biopsies were reduced by 41% and chemotherapy by 9.5% during delivery
The epidemic has been a blow to Eva Fernández. His baby, Diego Torronteras, 19 months old, was diagnosed with Allan Herndon Dudley syndrome, a condition that causes cerebral palsy, for more than six months.
“In addition to suspending the physical therapy sessions (two per week), crucial for these children, who are all making progress in the first six years of life, many of them were on the phone and the child was not making any progress,” said Fernández, who has appealed to the private, which equates to about 700 euros per month.
The Jiménez Díaz Foundation has resumed rehab, but reduced it to one session per week “because there is no room and they are still waiting for an early care center, the key to his recovery.”
Other affected groups
In chronic patients, diabetics, especially the elderly, are strongly affected by the suspension of laboratory tests. Especially for type 2, stresses Antonio Pérez, president of the Spanish Diabetes Association. “These patients are usually treated on an outpatient basis, they do not use continuous glucose monitoring (glucose sensor) and they cannot adjust the treatment themselves,” compared to type 1 patients who are hospitalized, ”he says .
In addition, they have struggled to obtain medicines and equipment to combat the disease, says this head of the endocrine unit at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona), who extrapolates data from a study in the United States to Spain. Kingdom where diagnoses of type 2 diabetes fell by 70% between March and May.
Elderly people with type 2 diabetes, most affected by the suspension of analyzes
“Oncology care has also been significantly affected,” admits García Foncillas. According to the study Health Effect of the Coronavirus in Oncohematology Patients of the Spanish Association Against Cancer, there was a 57% reduction in diagnostic cytologies, 41% in biopsies, 9.5% in those chemotherapy treatments and the day hospital treatment at this stage 14 % fewer patients.
“Covid is a tragedy accelerating a new tragedy and so vaccination must be accelerated to reduce the cases and the pressure on the health system,” said Dolors Montserrat, member of the European Parliament’s public health committee and former health minister. In addition, for Sandra Ibarra, president of the Sandra Ibarra Foundation, it is “urgent that hospitals formulate aid protocols to provide care for cancer patients.”
The same has happened with heart patients. “In two or three years, the effects of the decline in care will be visible,” warns Ángel Cequier, president of the SEC (Spanish Association of Cardiology). “We saw patients on the waiting list for moderate interventions get worse and some died. And although from the second wave all acute processes have already been treated, not all tests can be done (cardiac rehabilitation, etc.), it will take months to reach the previous level of care, as almost 40% of the structures they are absorbed by the coronavirus “.
Hurricane SARS-CoV-2
Treatments According to a report by the Patient Care Platform Observatory, 25% of patients had difficulties accessing their treatment at the community pharmacy and hospital.
Radiotherapy. The number of patients treated with radiotherapy decreased by 9%, as did the treatments with this technique by 5%.
Transplants According to a study by the Spanish Cancer Association, the number of transplants from unrelated donors fell by 50% from March to May.
Europe. A new plan from the European Commission will allocate 4,000 million euros for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The goal: to vaccinate 90% of girls with the possibility of contracting the human papillomavirus, among other things.
Neurology. 60% of Spanish neurologists confirm that the number of new diagnoses of cognitive impairment has increased in the months after March 2020. According to a survey by the Spanish Neurological Society, nearly 30% of epilepsy patients experienced more seizures.
Drop. Many gout patients were forced to self-medicate and many were unable to adjust the dose to reduce uric acid.