The new coronavirus, which the WHO has named COVID-19, is gradually starting to spread around the world. It was not possible to avoid this fate in Russia, where the number of cases is still minimal. However, they must be isolated somewhere and provided with the necessary treatment. In the city of St. Petersburg, the Botkin Hospital, one of the oldest medical institutions in the country, specializing in infectious diseases, has become such a place. This is where people who are suspected of having coronavirus are sent.
Is the hospital adapted to receive coronavirus patients?
The Botkin hospital is the best institution to provide assistance in such cases. Since it initially specializes in infectious diseases, there are well-equipped boxes specially prepared for such cases, where it is possible to accommodate patients with suspected coronavirus, and doctors trained in such cases. The staff of the Botkin Hospital consists of professional infectious disease doctors who are more likely to make an accurate diagnosis and be able to prescribe the correct treatment if it is confirmed.
An additional plus is that the Botkin hospital has a good laboratory where the necessary tests will be done quickly and accurately.
Recovered patients from coronavirus: how the disease proceeded and how they were treated
Coronavirus in the Botkin hospital for a long time was not recorded. Patients with suspicions of it were regularly admitted, but positive test results were not found. Most of the people were sent from airports: they flew in from countries where the deplorable situation associated with the coronavirus was revealed, and they show alarming symptoms or fever. In a number of cases, people asked for help themselves, because they felt unwell, and for one reason or another they had suspicions specifically of the coronavirus.
All the people taken to the Botkin hospital visited countries such as Italy or China, where the disease has spread the most. At airports, such tourists are given special attention, and people themselves, on a wave of panic, are more attentive to their own condition in general, so they go to the hospital with complaints.
Botkin's hospital immediately accepted such people and put them in a two-week quarantine. Everyone was tested to see if it was really COVID-19 or not. At the moment, not a single case of coronavirus infection of residents directly in St. Petersburg has been officially confirmed.
The first patient was admitted to the hospital at the end of January. The media officially confirmed the hospitalization of a Russian with suspected coronavirus. There was no confirmation of this, and after the forced quarantine, the person was immediately released home.
It is noteworthy that the first to come with complaints were tested several times in order to double-check everything and so that there were no doubts. Therefore, we can conclude that the specialists at the Botkin Hospital are serious about their own duties and are not going to allow the spread of the epidemic in St. Petersburg.
The only patient in the Botkin hospital with confirmed COVID-19 lives in the Leningrad region. He is receiving the necessary medical care. A coronavirus vaccine has not yet been developed, so patients are being treated with antibiotics and standard antivirals.
How often do new patients arrive?
Initially, there were very few new patients at the Botkin Hospital, only a few people were admitted per month. However, in recent years their number has increased greatly. At the moment, there are about three hundred people in St. Petersburg who are suspected of having coronavirus, moreover, some of them are children.
All of them are isolated in the Botkin hospital. People will be given the necessary examinations and the diagnosis will be confirmed or refuted, so for now there is a strong hope that all patients will be healthy. But, in any case, they will have to stay in the hospital for a two-week quarantine in order to avoid undesirable consequences. The virus appears in the blood after a while.
The Botkin hospital is doing everything in its power to ensure the safety of the residents of St. Petersburg, the doctors working in it carefully treat any suspicions and checks. Fortunately, so far most tests for coronavirus have been negative. All services are aimed at ensuring that this state of affairs remains and the number of cases does not grow. It is recommended that in any doubtful situation, immediately contact either the attending physician or immediately go to the Botkin hospital in order to avoid unpleasant consequences and the occurrence of an epidemic in reality.