Written by Healogics Chief Medical Officer, Dr. William Ennis. Published on iwoundsnews.com on March 23, 2020.
I was initially slated to discuss the outlook for wound care in 2020, but the emergence of a new threat known as coronavirus has caused me to rethink my topic. This past December, in Wuhan, China, an outbreak was initially reported: now, cases have been confirmed on six continents and in more than 100 countries.
Although the disease, known as COVID-19, is mild in most cases, the elderly and those with underlying comorbid conditions can have severe complications. The death rate is about 1.4% overall, however higher rates are noted in the elderly. In many cases, those are our wound care patients! Having officially graduated from epidemic status to a pandemic, it is of the utmost urgency that we begin to organise and prepare as our wound care patients become exposed.
In the USA, the majority of wound care clinics are located within hospital campus grounds. The government and local public health departments have begun to urge, and at times regulate, that all “non-essential” care be treated remotely or in offices away from the hospital. These are the times when the absence of a formal specialty status truly hurts our patients and the field of wound care.