Respiratory infections are being the main reason for consultation in the municipal public health sphere, with the resurgence of diseases that had been relegated in the last two years due to the monopolization of the coronavirus.
“We are having a high incidence of respiratory diseases. While COVID is receding due to vaccination, others are appearing, such as community pneumonia, bronchiolitis in children, bronchitis such as COPD that are becoming more acute, all of which have worsened after being reduced for two years,” explained Pedro Trecco, the Secretary of Health of the Municipality, when asked by El Diario.
In this context, he said that the chinstrap is here to stay for several winters, since, “in addition to COVID, other respiratory diseases are becoming very strong, for example, yesterday I hospitalized a 70-year-old patient for non-COVID bilateral pneumonia, like I haven’t seen in a while.”
He linked this general picture to the lifestyle of the population and the environmental crisis. He stressed that the environmental issue must be put on the table.
This occurs in a context of increased medical consultations in the network made up of Public Assistance and the thirteen Primary Health Care Centers (CAPS). Trecco specified that two years ago 18,000 people were served per month, while in March of this year 40,000 were served.
He said that in the Assistance there is no longer a doctor on duty, but three, the same number of nurses on duty, and that, per day, between 300 and 350 people are cared for.
He pointed out that the lightning service is complementary to this table and will soon be extended to 24 hours, “because the demand has grown.”
This scenario was linked in part to the fact that “many mutualized people find it difficult to get a turn and then go to the guard” of the municipal service.
“We have put a reinforcement office, but, however, the demand continues to increase,” he said.
He recalled that there will be three new CAPS and an immunization center in the city.
In addition to respiratory issues, when asked by this newspaper, he also mentioned, among the main reasons for consultation, chronic diseases such as hypertensive and cardiovascular crises, and said that they are having “a lot of demand from 107 due to mental illness crises, psychotic outbreaks , substance use, issues that grew a lot: it’s a very complex issue.”
“The disease paralyzes us, it activates them”
“Women are much more intelligent, they know their body more than us, it has been shown. They understand more about health, they are less fearful. For us, the disease paralyzes us, for them it activates them. From a very young age they are in contact with the blood, they are stronger”.
This is how Trecco explained why the local state health network has a much higher demand for women than for men.
“I always say: if we men could give birth, the planet would be left without inhabitants,” he said ironically.