April 25, 2024
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Why all the breakthrough COVID cases at Edward Hospital?

Numbers don’t tell the entire story at Naperville hospital

By Denise M. Baran-Unland

Registered Nurse Nikki Carini-Wardecki loads a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during the first day of vaccinations for employees at Edward Hospital in Naperville on Dec. 17. Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, Edward Hospital’s medical director, said the number of breakthrough COVID patients the hospital admits is very small, with the average age being 74. The reason for hospitalization is often different than it is for unvaccinated COVID patients, he said. (Sandy Bressner - sbressner@shawmedia.com)

On Wednesday, Edward Hospital in Naperville was treating 23 COVID patients.

Thirteen of those were known to be unvaccinated and five were vaccinated/breakthrough cases.

Of the 23 COVID patients Edward Hospital treated on Tuesday, 12 were known to be vaccinated and six were vaccinated/breakthrough cases.

Last Wednesday, out of 18 inpatients at Edward Hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19, 11 were unvaccinated and seven were vaccinated/breakthrough.

By comparison, Morris Hospital had six COVID-positive inpatients on Wednesday, according to its COVID dashboard. Five were unvaccinated and two were in the intensive care unit. None of the unvaccinated patients were in the ICU.

Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox had 46 inpatients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to its COVID dashboard. Eight were in the internsive care unit and two were on ventilators. Their vaccination status was unkown.

Why the seemingly high percentage of breakthrough cases at Edward Hospital?

Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, Edward Hospital’s medical director, said one in four patients with a confirmed case of COVID-19 at Edward Hospital over the past three months were, on average, breakthrough cases.

But Pinsky stressed the cases between the unvaccinated and vaccinated patients were, overall, very different cases in terms of age, symptoms and severity.

The average age of the patient with breakthrough COVID was 74; the average age of the unvaccinated COVID patient was 48, he said. Furthermore, the patients with breakthrough COVID were less likely to need respiratory support. If they did, they required far less than the unvaccinated patients, he said.

True, the elderly patients may be more prone to breakthrough COVID, due to a weaker immune system or underlying conditions that make them more prone to contracting COVID.

But that’s not necessarily why these patients come to Edward Hospital.

“They may not be able to tolerate the symptoms,” Pinsky said.

Symptoms in these patients with breakthrough COVID are typically fever, diarrhea and dehydration, symptoms that younger patients can often manage at home, Pinksy said.

Pinsky said one also must consider the high vaccination rate in the elderly in Will and DuPage counties, where many of Edward Hospital’s patients live. One would expect to see a higher percentage of breakthrough cases in a population where most people are vaccinated, he said.

“The percentage of people among the fully vaccinated getting admitted is actually very, very small,” Pinsky said.

Pinsky anticipates COVID boosters will further decrease that percentage.

“For the elderly, this will help dramatically with reducing some of these breakthrough infections,” Pinksy said.