RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The escalating COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil is increasingly affecting younger people, with hospital data showing that most people in intensive care were 40 or younger last year, according to a new report.
The report, released over the weekend by the Brazilian Association of Intensive Care Medicine (AMIB), is based on data from more than a third of all the country’s intensive care units. This found a significant increase in younger people admitted to beds in Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
For the first time since the outbreak reached Brazil last year, 52% of ICU beds were filled by patients aged 40 or younger. This is a jump of 16.5% compared to the occupancy of that age group between December and February.
It is not clear why more young people become seriously ill during the current outbreak of the virus in Brazil, but some scientists think that the new P1 variant that originated in the Amazon city of Manaus may be at least partially to blame. give.
Other factors, such as the vaccination of the elderly and the behavior of younger people who feel less concerned about going out and hanging out, can also affect the data.
In a separate report, the public health institute Fiocruz said that the trend is putting additional pressure on Brazil’s health system because younger patients tend to be in intensive care for longer.
Brazil is currently the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 4,000 daily deaths last week.
The outbreak is pushing hospitals to breaking point, with many patients dying before an ICU bed is available.
More than 350,000 people have died in Brazil from the coronavirus, the world’s second highest death toll after just the United States.