The Philippines will join the community of nations in celebrating World Stroke Day 2021 Friday under the theme #Precious Time.
Dr. Maria Epifania Collantes of the Stroke Society of the Philippines, citing a study that suggests that stroke mortality of patients with COVID-19 is high at 59 percent, said “when experiencing even the mildest symptoms of stroke, every second that goes by is crucial and there is a need for timely access to medical emergency care.”
During a Zoom media briefing, Collantes noted there was no “first aid” for a stroke victim, adding a patient should at once be rushed to a hospital.
“There is the Golden Hour: Time is of the essence. Immediate treatment of a stroke can minimize the long-term effects and helps reduce the risk of death from stroke,” she said.
According to her, a retrospective study also indicated that 42 percent with mild COVID infection still suffered from stroke while 29 percent with severe COVID cases had stroke.
She said 2,018 patients with COVID-19 infection from Philippine General Hospital were part of the study population, and 41 out of the 2,018 patients (or 2 percent) developed acute stroke. The mean age of patients was 59 years old.
Established by the World Stroke Organization, and supported locally by Angels Initiative, a global healthcare initiative launched by Boehringer Ingelheim, together with the Stroke Society of the Philippines, World Stroke Day aims to increase awareness about the signs and symptoms of stroke, improve stroke prevention, and have access to quality stroke treatment.
Collantes said a nationwide, comparative, retrospective, cohort study among adult, hospitalized COVID- 19 patients involved 37 hospital sites from various regions.
The study included 10, 881 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infections. The key finding is that 26 percent of the patients suffered from neurologic symptoms: headache – 6 percent, altered smell/can’t smell – 5 percent, altered sensorium – 4.4 percent, altered taste – 3 percent and muscle pains – 2.3 percent.
Since 2009 until 2019, Collantes said stroke had been identified as the second leading cause of death and one of the top five leading causes of disability in the Philippines.