Professor Jean Dellamonica heads a resuscitation service now dedicated exclusively to Covid-19 patients -

CHU de Nice

  • After three weeks of increased intensive care admissions, his service is opening three additional beds.

  • Serious cases always concern older patients.

  • Several clinical studies underway hold promise for the treatment of the disease.

The Alpes-Maritimes went "in the red" with more than 60% occupancy of intensive care beds and nearly 250 hospitalized Covid-19 patients.

While most indicators are on the rise according to the latest report published on Wednesday by the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Regional Health Agency (ARS), Professor Jean Dellamonica, head of the Intensive Medicine service - resuscitation at l'Archet hospital in Nice, announces that its service is getting three additional beds and will now be 100% dedicated to coronavirus patients.

Are you seeing the arrival of a “second wave”?

Today, the pressure is clearly mounting.

Since early August, we had Covid-19 patients again, while there were none in July.

First one then two, and finally a marked increase for three weeks.

The decision has just been taken to increase the care capacity: we are opening three additional beds in our department, increasing to thirteen beds.

And to avoid mixing the sick, patients who do not have the coronavirus will go to another intensive care unit in the Archet.

We continue to take care of all those who need it.

Is your service close to saturation?

Almost all the beds are occupied… but already in normal times this is more or less the case.

The hospital is in perpetual turnover.

Our capacities are usually strained already.

What changes with the Covid is that patients are staying in intensive care longer.

One of the reasons for the pressure on the beds is that his hospital stay is longer.

Has the profile of Covid-19 patients changed?

No, between what you could call the first wave and now, we have exactly the same profile.

These are people over 60 years old, or even 70 years old, in whom we find hypertension, diabetes or overweight.

We do not have young people affected by severe forms.

The mortality rate of Covid patients in intensive care is comparable to what is observed with other pathologies.

The difference is that these patients stay for a long time.

The average length of stay in a sheave is five to seven days, for patients with coronavirus we have rather ten to fifteen days.

It leaves traces.

After the oxygenation problems in the first phase there are bacterial infections that are difficult to treat, and a significant loss of muscle which then requires a long rehabilitation.

Has medical care changed since the "first wave"?

We have understood the disease a little better, although we still have a lot to understand.

We are more willing to give corticosteroids for those who have a cytokine storm.

What is new in the current upsurge are the many clinical research protocols.

The last few months have enabled us to organize ourselves, there has been a great deal of research, we have had the time to obtain regulatory authorizations to offer patients studies.

For the moment there are avenues, no solution yet but great hopes in the studies underway.

We are targeting interesting things even if for the moment we cannot say anything yet.

Do you think a new confinement is a necessary measure?

It is a political decision.

What I expect as a doctor is to have the means to take care of patients.

If the health system is at its maximum capacity, it is necessary to reduce the flow of entries into the service.

I don't want life or the economy to stop at all.

But there is no question of leaving patients without care.

The hospital must adapt to changing situations.

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  • Disease

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Nice