The Febrile Emergency Unit at Muñiz Hospital facing COVID-19, HIV and tuberculosis

The Febrile Emergency Unit at Muñiz Hospital facing COVID-19, HIV and tuberculosis

Febrile Emergency Units were annexed to tertiary hospitals to face the pandemic caused by SARS CoV-2 in Buenos Aires City. We performed a retrospective observational study in order to evaluate the profile of people consulting the Unit annexed to the Muñiz Hospital, during the period comprising epide...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medicina Vol. 81; no. 2; p. 143
Main Authors: Lagrutta, Laura, Sotelo, Carina A, Estecho, Beatriz R, Beorda, Walter J, Francos, José L, González Montaner, Pablo
Format: Journal Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Argentina 01-03-2021
Subjects:
Adult
COVID-19
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
HIV Infections - complications
HIV Infections - epidemiology
Hospitals
Humans
Male
SARS-CoV-2
Tuberculosis - diagnosis
Tuberculosis - epidemiology
COVID-19
febrile emergency units
Argentina
HIV
pandemic
tuberculosis
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Summary:Febrile Emergency Units were annexed to tertiary hospitals to face the pandemic caused by SARS CoV-2 in Buenos Aires City. We performed a retrospective observational study in order to evaluate the profile of people consulting the Unit annexed to the Muñiz Hospital, during the period comprising epidemiological weeks 28 to 42, 2020. The total number of consultations was 12 571; 6801 (54.1%) patients were male, and the average age was 38 years. A total of 2499 (26.3 %) of 9501 swabs resulted positive for SARS-CoV-2 when analyzed by RT-PCR. The average age of confirmed COVID-19 patients was 37.9 years; 1367 (54.7%) were male and 143 (5.7%) required hospitalization at the first consultation. As many as 6097 (48.5%) participants were beneficiaries of social security or prepaid medicine. Only 160 (1.3%) were HIV positive, with COVID-19 coinfection diagnosed in 39/160 (24.4%), of which 9 (23.1%) required hospitalization. Only 128 (1%) had tuberculosis (TB); TB/COVID-19 coinfection was diagnosed in 31 of them (24.2%), and 8/31 (25.8%) required hospitalization. The triple association HIV/TB /COVID-19 was reported in only 2 patients. Contrary to expectations, TB and HIV, the two main diseases treated in our hospital, were under-represented in this Emergency Unit, but the requirement of hospitalization for coinfected patients was quite frequent. This may be due to late consultation caused by mobility and assistance restrictions during quarantine. Interestingly, our data also indicate that the city's public sector had to absorb unsatisfied demand from the private sector and suburban population.
ISSN:1669-9106