Photo: Ascom Vibesera
The State Department of Health (Sesapi) said Thursday (09) that it is investigating a suspected case of the delta type of novel coronavirus. The patient is a 72-year-old male who has been admitted to the intensive care unit at Justino Luz Regional Hospital in Pecos since 4 September.
According to Sesapi’s epidemiology coordinator, Amélia Costa, the information relayed by the hospital is that the man traveled to São Paulo on August 12 and returned to Pecos on the 24th of the same month. The trip took place in a secret bus, which makes it difficult to track down the other passengers.
“On August 26, he showed the first symptoms of the disease, but he did not go to the hospital until September 3, where he is in the intensive care unit. Knowing that he came from a city with a high prevalence of the delta variant, we asked the health unit for samples for genetic sequencing ” Coordinator explained.
The patient’s genetic sequencing sample will be sent to FioCruz, in Rio de Janeiro, to detect the strain the man had. “Since he has a virus load of less than 25, we have submitted a sequencing request to FioCruz and are preparing the materials for transmission,” said the epidemiology coordinator.
The 72-year-old made the trip from Sao Paulo to Picos by secret bus, making it difficult to track down the other passengers by Picos and Sesapi Surveillance. We have asked people who have been on this bus to look up their municipality secretariats, so we can monitor all communications. We are working with the Pecos Department of Health, to find the carrier and try to locate as many passengers as possible,” Amelia Costa recalls.
Another condition that has worsened the patient’s health is the fact that even at the age of 72, he has not taken any doses of vaccines against Covid-19. He also suffers from chronic heart disease. “We already have advanced vaccination for younger age groups in our state, but this patient did not take the vaccine, which worsened his clinical condition, as well as his comorbidities. This is why we pay attention to the need for vaccination and other continuity of care, such as the use of masks, not congestion, which is neglected by many people, emphasizes Amelia Costa.
This is the second suspected case of Delta to be investigated in Piaui. Last month, a patient hospitalized with COVID-19 at a private hospital in North Teresina underwent tests to determine possible contamination by the surrogate.
Nathaniel Souza (with information from Sisabi)
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