The pandemic has caused delays in the diagnosis and treatment of liver pathologies. It also caused a drop in screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
The collateral damage of COVID-19 A coronavirus disease, sometimes called covid (after the English acronym of coronavirus disease) is a disease caused by a coronavirus (CoV). The term may refer to the following illnesses: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused by the SARS-CoV virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) caused by the MERS-CoV virus, Coronavirus disease 2019 ( Covid-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
See the definition on the management of liver diseases
The forecasts are not good. In the next ten years, delays in care related to COVID-19 could have serious consequences. The crisis has focused all efforts on one pathology, to the detriment of others. According to mathematical models, the crisis could lead to an additional 44,800 hepatocellular cancers and 72,300 liver-related deaths worldwide. A study conducted in the United States in 125 hospitals shows a drop in weekly hospitalizations for cirrhosis of 159% between the first quarter of 2019 and 2020. As for the patients admitted, they presented with much more serious cirrhosis. A worrying observation, confirmed by a French study carried out in six university hospitals in Île-de-France. It shows a decrease in the number of new patients with hepatocellular carcinoma admitted to hospital compared to the same period in 2019. In addition, treatment delays of more than a month were more frequent. In another article published in Journal of HepatologyEliott Tapper writes, “The COVID-19 pandemic has shattered the meticulously crafted processes by which we provide quality care to people with cirrhosis.”
An impact on HCV, VIH Human immunodeficiency virus. In English: HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). Isolated in 1983 at the Pasteur Institute in Paris; recently discovered (2008) rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to Luc Montagnier and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi.
See the definition and the IS Sexually transmitted infections.
See the definition bacterial
According to a survey conducted in 32 countries among civil society organizations involved in the fight against hepatitis C, the main problem was the decrease in testing during the first confinement in spring 2020. Liver diseases are not the only to suffer from the pandemic. This is also the case for STIs, such as HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). Screening has been particularly impacted, with a decrease of 650,000 tests between January and September 2020.
According to a study by UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/page Acquired immune deficiency syndrome. In English, AIDS, acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome.
See the definition), the impact of COVID-19 on production and logistics could significantly impact the supply of antiretroviral therapy worldwide. There is also a 20% drop in reports of chlamydia infections in the United States during the first ten months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. It is not known whether this is due to a decrease in transmission, or, more likely, to a drop in drug testing. In France, the same trend, with a significant drop of 60% in screening for bacterial STIs (syphilis, chlamydia, gonococcus) during the first confinement. But screening is essential. It allows patients to benefit from treatments and also to avoid the transmission of the disease.
Long-term consequences
Some effects of the health crisis will take years to become visible. It has caused an economic crisis which could increase the consumption of alcohol and drugs, with deleterious consequences on liver disease. Thus, the global survey Global Drug Survey, conducted between May and June 2020, shows an increase in the number of days of alcohol consumption in the general population. The efforts made to minimize the collateral damage of COVID-19 must therefore continue in the long term. As Elliot Tapper points out, “managing a serious chronic illness in the midst of a global infectious pandemic is a challenge. It is up to all health actors to be strong enough to weather the storm..