Young Covid-19 patients requiring hospitalization more often
Doctors have in the Netherlands have observed that a growing number of Covid-19 patients admitted into hospitals are relatively young, the Trouw stated. During this wave of the coronavirus there have been more patients between the ages of 30- to 50-years-old in hospital compared to last year.
The earlier vaccination of older people in the country is not the only reason for the decreasing average age of Covid-19 patients. Younger people have also been admitted to hospital more frequently in absolute terms.
NL Times examined Covid-19 hospitalization figures provided by the RIVM since the start of the pandemic. For the ten-month period from February through November, 263 people between 30 and 59 years of age were hospitalized with the coronavirus disease. In almost five months from December 1 through April 27, 215 people in that age range were hospitalized for Covid-19.
The increase in young patients can be seen both in the intensive care units, as well as in nursing wards. It is not relative to a rise in total infection numbers.
The B117-strain of the coronavirus which originated in Great Britain could be a possible explanation for the increase in younger patients. “I have a strong feeling that it has to do with the British variant. But not all studies point in the same direction, so at the moment it is still difficult to substantiate these claims”, said Robin Peeters, the head of internal medicine at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam.
“About 75 percent of these patients between the ages of 30 to 50 have no medical pre-conditions or disorder. They are healthy young people who are now sick in the hospital”, Peeters stated to the newspaper.
| Age | Male (Treated Feb. 1 - Nov. 30) |
Female (Treated Feb. 1 - Nov. 30) |
Total (Treated Feb. 1 - Nov. 30) |
Male (Treated Dec. 1 - Apr. 27) |
Female (Treated Dec. 1 - Apr. 27) |
Total (Treated Dec. 1 - Apr. 27) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-39 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 15 |
| 40-49 | 30 | 19 | 49 | 19 | 17 | 36 |
| 50-59 | 197 | 132 | 65 | 164 | 122 | 42 |
Other specialists confirmed they have also been seeing this trend occurring. Pulmonologist Kirsten Salverda at the Amsterdam University Medical Center said to NOS she even sees more patients in their twenties being admitted to the hospital.
Peeters said that the rise in young hospital patients underlines the importance of vaccinations for everyone. “We rightly place much emphasis on vaccinating people over 60 as soon as possible because they are vulnerable. But it is also necessary that younger people get vaccinated as soon as it is their turn, to prevent us from seeing so many young patients in hospital.”