Despite the large-scale deaths reported by contracting the Covid-19, the psychological effect and fear of this infection is causing a significant number of deaths. Dr. Joseph S. Alpert, who heads the editorial team of The American Journal of Medicine, under Elsevier highlights the deaths among non-Covid-19 patients caused by the fear of getting this infection.
The death reports highlight how non-Covid patients often exhibit multiple symptoms all together for example heart failure, anxiety, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and others. This psychological effect of the pandemic is not less worrying let alone the pandemic itself. People suffering from other conditions are also most likely to die during this pandemic, probably under the pandemic stress, at a considerably higher number than before.
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Dr. Alpert says that nearly 1/3rd of patients coming to the hospitals are considered for inpatient treatment as well as home hospice. However, before this pandemic, the number of hospice patients or inpatient treatment was only a few. It means that the covid-19 pandemic is also changing the demographics as well.
Patients tend to avoid coming to a hospital for as long as they can mainly because they fear contracting the deadly coronavirus from the hospital, along with their original medical issue. Some doctors have also revealed how many of their patients refused to come for physical therapies or the hospice transfer, ignoring the fact that they require acute medical care.
Some of the research studies from the US and Europe reveal that heart patients especially those suffering from the myocardia infraction and even stroke patients were less likely to come to ER. Despite this avoidance and a lesser number of patients coming to the hospitals, the mortality rate continues to be high.
Many non-Covid patients share how they feel that they are much safer at their houses instead of hospitals. Some of them even showed concern about how hospital staff deals with all types of patients including the Covid-19 patients. And there are high chances that they are already exposed and may transmit it to the new patients, coming for any other treatment or care.
Dr. Alpert says that he tries to explain to these patients that they are in safer hands when in a hospital. Even the outpatient services are also safer and the staff makes sure that it is not helping in infection spread. He is even ready to pen down all the measures that the hospital workers and doctors are following to avoid transmitting the infection.
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From maintaining social distancing to cleanliness and strict non-visitor policy at hospitals, the hospital staff is doing everything that it can to save people. The vaccination program is further improving their efforts but without all this information known to common people, it is hard to make the non-Covid patients believe that they won’t be infected by coming to a hospital.
The increased number of deaths can be altogether controlled if the patient decides to get timely treatment. He urges everyone who is in need of medical help to call 911 or the nearest hospital for an ambulance and never hesitate to reach a hospital.
