The knowledge accumulated since the beginning of the epidemic about the pathogen and its effects on the body has significantly reduced mortality in intensive care units.
In hospitals and intensive care units that cater to the most severe cases, characterized by states of respiratory insufficiency or distress, the management now is vastly different from what it was at the start of last spring, when the country, facing a first wave, entered its first lockdown.
The first epidemic wave corresponded to an initial learning phase, the results of which were felt even before the end of summer. This is shown by a mainly French study, Covid-ICU (for Intensive Care Unit), published on October 30 in “Intensive Care Medicine,” the journal of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, with the AP-HP also publishing the results.
Focusing on a cohort of 4,244 adults admitted to intensive care units in 138 hospitals in France, Belgium, and Switzerland between February 25 and May 4, this unprecedented series due to its size and duration of follow-up shows that the mortality rate in intensive care units dropped from 42% to 25% during the period.
