The first case of COVID-19 in Spain was confirmed in La Gomera on January 31, 2020. The patient was a German tourist who was admitted to the island with symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus. This person had been infected in Germany by someone else with the virus. On February 24, the virus spread to the mainland, with the first cases detected in Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and the Community of Madrid. From that moment on, cases in Spain evolved and a period of change began that would lead to the so-called "new normal."
On March 14, 2020, a state of emergency was declared, which was extended six times until June 21. This exceptional situation, which was repeated again at the end of 2020, had two objectives: to prevent the spread of the virus and to mobilize all the necessary resources to combat COVID-19, especially healthcare resources.
At that time, we knew little about a virus that has spread throughout every country in the world, affecting more than 200 million people and causing 4.5 million deaths. The United States, India, Brazil, and the United Kingdom lead the way in these dramatic figures , which have also hit Spain hard: almost five million people infected and more than 85,000 deaths.
The healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors have been working intensively in recent months: the former to care for patients on a daily basis and the latter to find a mass prevention method, a vaccine. In both cases, they have been successful, in addition to the progress made in virus detection models.
Symptomatology has been one of the most agile and effective forms of prevention: at the first sign of symptoms compatible with COVID-19 or proximity to infected people, confinement measures were imposed automatically, even without waiting for the results of COVID-19 tests. This, which may have seemed excessive to many people, has also prevented infections and served to alleviate the burden on the healthcare system, which has been overwhelmed by the response to this pandemic.
Advances in biomedical science have focused on research in several areas, with millions of dollars invested. It is estimated that €5 billion has been invested in vaccine research and development. Now that we know that vaccines are not 100% effective and that the inflammatory response in the lungs can be lethal in this case, research is being conducted into a combination of drugs that block this acute inflammation (and its effects, such as the so-called cytokine storm that causes this pulmonary distress).
And even with all these measures, the first cases of long COVID appeared , that is, people who continued to show symptoms of COVID long after the average.
Prevention against COVID-19 has been a crash course in infection prevention guidelines. All health authorities, from the World Health Organization to local health officials, have emphasized these eight guidelines:
At first, we also wore gloves, washed our clothes, and disinfected our groceries when we got home. Wearing masks and social distancing have been, and continue to be, the most effective measures to combat this disease.
On the other hand, there has been much talk about the need to maintain a strong immune system. Although it is true that susceptibility to infection depends on various factors related to each person's health, as well as the dangerousness of the virus and other external factors, how well or poorly prepared our bodies are will influence our ability to contract this and other diseases.
Under normal conditions, the immune system defends us effectively. If it didn't, most of the population would be sick all the time. What is certain is that healthcare and the immune system are key aspects for those who are more prone to illness.
The health of the immune system can be assessed through various tests that analyze our intestinal system, where part of the immune system resides, and through tests to detect COVID-19.
To take care of our immune system, we can rely on specific treatments or adopt guidelines in our daily lives that will help us.
Spain is currently at low risk. However,protective measures have not been fully lifted, and it will be some time before we can remove our masks in enclosed spaces. In fact, many people will feel safer wearing them. What we have done is become more aware of preventive care and the need to prepare our bodies to defend themselves effectively against disease.
At Biosalud, we are currently seeing different behavioral trends in response to COVID-19:
