Vaccinated Australia breaks death records
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https://bit.ly/3fD5lhi)
The alarm has been sounded about COVID-19's hidden impact as new
data shows that the highest number of people have died in the March
quarter of 2022 than in any of the past 41 years.
Australian Bureau of Statistics population data published on
Wednesday shows an 18 per cent increase in deaths in the quarter
compared with the same period a year earlier, rising from 39,100 to
46,200 deaths.
It is the first time that more than 40,000 deaths were recorded over
four consecutive quarters.
South-western Sydney Labor MP Dr Mike Freelander, Chair of the
Senate inquiry into long COVID, said he was "very concerned" about
higher-than-normal deaths in the pandemic and that more research
was needed to ascertain why.
While the inquiry was focused on long COVID, he said, "there is
a concern that COVID itself increases inflammatory responses,
predisposes people to stroke and cardiovascular disease".
"The other question is: are there risk factors, is there anything
that can be done to modify the risk?" Freelander said.
The inquiry will collate data from scientific experts to gain
insights into how COVID-19 affects health after the initial
infection.
Karen Cutter, spokeswoman for the Actuaries Institute COVID-19
Mortality Working Group, said about 6000 more people died in the
March quarter than could be explained by the ageing population.
Half of these people died from COVID-19, she said, with a further
500 dying "with COVID", their deaths from causes such as cancer,
circulatory diseases and dementia likely to have been hastened by
the pandemic.
The remaining 2500 people died from other causes. While it is unclear
what, if any role COVID-19 may have played, a higher-than-usual
number of deaths from strokes, heart disease, dementia and diabetes
makes the working group suspect that it could be a factor.
"There are people who have had COVID and recovered, but it may
have weakened their immune system [and] they've subsequently had
a heart attack or stroke that might not necessarily be directly linked
back to their COVID episode," Cutter said.
"Studies show that having COVID increases your risk of these sorts
of things."
Another possible reason for the increase in deaths this year, she
said, was that vulnerable people who were shielded from influenza
in the winters of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions have
since succumbed to other causes of death.
"There will have been some delayed deaths from those earlier years,"
she said.
Undiagnosed COVID-19 was not expected to be a major contributor
as people suspected to have died from the virus were being tested
after death.
Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney on Wednesday announced
$6.3 million in funding for research led by Monash University to
evaluate the immune response in children and high-risk populations,
including adults with chronic conditions, to COVID-19.
The project aims to improve the care and outcomes for children and
people with chronic diseases, including tailored treatments and
vaccination schedules appropriate to children and high-risk groups.
Adults with chronic kidney and lung disease, Inflammatory Bowel
Disease, rheumatic diseases, people living with HIV and organ
transplant recipients will be among the patients to be studied.
