Concern at 'disproportionate' number of pregnant women in ICU with Covid-19

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The HSE's chief clinical officer has expressed concern that pregnant women are making up a “disproportionate” number of patients with Covid-19 in intensive care units.

Today saw 400 patients in hospital with the virus, with 75 of them in ICU.

The number of people with Covid-19 in hospital is the highest since last March. A further 1,358 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed today.

We do need to see more pregnant women vaccinated. By our own estimates, it is about 30%+ or more,” said Dr Colm Henry.

Chairwoman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Dr Cliona Murphy also expressed serious concerns about the low rate of vaccinations among pregnant women despite the “significant risk” from Covid.

“In the last clinic I did, only about one woman in 10 was vaccinated,” she said, adding she is aware of weekly ICU admissions of pregnant women.

She said women still worry that not enough research was done on vaccine safety, and seem to lack information on the risks of Covid-19, especially in late pregnancy.

NHS England said today that one in six of the patients needing extreme ECMO intensive care there are pregnant women.

Meanwhile, although over 92% of over-18s are now fully vaccinated, Dr Henry called on the remaining adults to consider getting the jab.

“There still remains 40,000 or 50,000 people out there over the age of 40 we estimate who are not vaccinated,” Dr Henry told RTÉ.

 “They remain very vulnerable to a virus, a version of which is still very transmissible out there. 

These numbers [of people in hospital] are higher than we would like, but they are much lower than the number of cases out in the community, and that’s because of the vaccination programme.” 

He said 40% of hospital cases are unvaccinated and 69% of people in ICU with Covid are unvaccinated.

Separately, the HSE has closed down Community Assessment Hubs for Covid-19, saying the high levels of vaccination have made the programme redundant.

This comes as the booster campaign broadens to include immunocompromised people as well as older people. 

Community assessment hubs were set up so that people with suspected Covid-19 could be assessed away from hospital sites. They opened in April 2020, and within months there were 29 operating around the country, including on St Mary’s Health Campus in Cork.

Run by HSE staff working with GPs, the final national tally was 13,200 people checked.

A HSE spokeswoman said of these: “78% were referred home with advice and support, 21% were referred to emergency departments, and 1% were referred to self-isolation centres.” 

During the summer of 2020, the number of hubs was cut to eight as Covid-19 numbers dropped. However, when the third wave of infections hit in January, this was ramped up again to 17.

The HSE spokeswoman said that “largely due to the successful rollout of the vaccination programme”, it was now able to phase out the hubs. The last remaining site closed on September 30 in Dublin.

Cork GP Dr Diarmuid Quinlan was involved in setting up the service. He welcomed their recent closure now, saying it is a sign of how the vaccination programme has changed the Covid landscape.