New virus patient treatment physician `` Elderly with pulmonary inflammation worsens early ''

Doctor of new type virus patient treatment “elderly person with pulmonary inflammation worsens early” Feb. 20 at 20:06

A doctor who treated a patient with severe pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus responded to NHK's interview, and one of the elderly people who became severely unable to take oxygen and temporarily took over the function of the lungs It is clarified that it is supported by a device that does. He further emphasized the necessity of preventing the spread of infection to elderly people, who may become more serious, as "pneumonia symptoms will worsen quickly".

Dr. Kutsuna Kenshi of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine has treated eleven people, including those returning from China and Wuhan on a charter aircraft, and passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who are over 60 people of cruise ship passengers. It means that three people became severe.

Symptoms include a runny nose, cough, and sore throat for about a week, followed by strong coughs and a large amount of sputum, and increased breathing difficulty. Two of these patients needed a ventilator. That is.

And men in their 70s use a ventilator, and men in their 80s are treated using a device called "ECMO" that sends oxygen directly into the blood and temporarily performs the function of the lungs. about it.

Dr. Kutsuna says, "It seems that the progress is as fast as two to three days from the onset of pneumonia until the need for a ventilator."

He added that all severely ill patients were given drugs to control the development of AIDS, saying, "I don't know how effective it is. At this time, there is no way to prevent the symptoms from worsening, We need to explore how it works. "

According to Dr. Kutsuna, most patients are mild and have symptoms that last longer than normal colds, but some patients recover and return to hospital within a week.

On the other hand, he emphasized the need to prevent the spread of infection to the elderly and others, stating that "don't transmit the disease to people with chronic diseases whose immunity is impaired or the elderly because the symptoms may progress rapidly." did.