Cardiac admissions at Akershus University Hospital almost halved during corona pandemic

During the coronavirus pandemic, the number of cardiac admissions at Akershus University Hospital (Ahus) almost halved.

The figures were revealed by a Norwegian study recently published in the renowned heart magazine Circulation.

“What we see is that mortality in Norway has decreased compared to normal years,” co-author Henrik Schirmer, professor of cardiology at the cardiology department at Ahus, told newspaper Dagens Medisin.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, it was feared that patients and the sick would stay away from hospitals due to fear of infection.

That was not the case, figures show.

“We’ve also seen less pneumonia, strokes, and other hospitalizations during the pandemic measures,” Schirmer told the newspaper, adding that the flu is almost gone.

The reason for this, according to Schirmer, is that the measures that were introduced worked.

“We cannot show a direct causal connection. But the measures, such as washing hands, coughing in the elbow cavity, and keeping distance, resulted in the flu almost disappearing.

Thus, there are fewer inflammation cases. And we know that inflammatory reactions in the body increase the risk of heart attacks.

 We have previously thought that there is a connection between handwashing, i.e., hygiene, and illness, but we couldn’t even dream about these figures,” he says.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today