For the majority of the positively tested patients, corona is the main reason for admission, but the number of incidental infections is higher among young people than among the elderly. This is apparent from new figures from the Nice Foundation and the RIVM. Why infected patients end up in hospital has been the subject of debate for some time.
Reducing the pressure on healthcare is a spearhead of Dutch corona policy. Because casual patients also count, the daily admission figures can give a distorted picture. In order to determine the impact of corona on society as a whole and on healthcare in particular, it is relevant for politicians which part of the daily recordings is actually caused by the virus. Many countries have kept this breakdown for some time.
The Dutch findings are in line with international reports. France, Denmark and Spain report that a quarter to a third of patients who tested positive have something else that caused them to be admitted.
‘Accidentally’ infected
For Dutch hospitals, the Nice Foundation has been keeping track of the reasons for which new covid patients end up in hospital since last week. A small majority of the patients studied were admitted solely because of Covid-19, 59 percent in the nursing wards and 63 percent of the IC patients. In addition, for some, Covid-19 has exacerbated an existing condition to such an extent that hospitalization was necessary. This is the case in 17 percent of the patients on nursing wards, and 13 percent in the ICU. Without corona as a complicating factor, they would not have been hospitalized.
Finally, there are the ‘accidentally’ infected patients. They are being treated for something completely different from covid-19. This is about a quarter of the cases in both intensive care and regular wards. They have not become ill from the virus, but they must be nursed in isolation to prevent further spread. The reason for admission has not yet been reported for a fairly large group of patients, about 40 percent in the nursing wards.
Incidental admissions are more common among young people than among the elderly. More than 40 percent of patients between the ages of 20 and 40 were admitted to the nursing wards for another condition. In the over 60s this is less than 20 percent of the patients. In intensive care, the differences are even greater, all over-80s who are in ICU have been admitted because of Covid-19, of those in their twenties and thirties that is 45 percent. The two newly admitted patients in intensive care under the age of 20 were both admitted because of Covid-19, not because of any other condition.
The share of corona patients who are hospitalized for something else has recently risen sharply in other countries. Although the Netherlands has only kept the figures for a week, it is likely that this will also be the case here. Omikron is more contagious, causing more ‘coincidences’, but also milder, causing relatively fewer infected people to become seriously ill. The influx of patients infected with corona has recently increased again in Dutch hospitals.