ABSTRACT
Background and aims: We aim at describing the impact of the first, second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic on stroke services in Tuscany. We measured the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of both intracranial hemmorhage (ICH) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS) hospitalizations, as well as of reperfusion treatments throughout the pandemic years 2020-21 (January1, 2020 -June 30, 2021) compared with the year 2019 control period. Methods: Retrospective, observational, multicenter study, across 3 huband- spoke stroke systems, and 22 stroke hospitals. The diagnoses were identified by their ICD-9 CM codes and/or classifications in stroke databases at participating centers. Results: In comparison with the same periods of 2019, the hospitalization volumes for ICHs and for AIS declined by 26% and 30.1% respectively during the fist pandemic wave, by 11% and 24.6% during the second wave, and by 2.5% and 4% during the third wave. Reperfusion treatments decreased by 15% during the first wave, and by 11.4% and 0.3% during the second and third waves respectively. Treated patients' functional outcome at 90days did not vary throughout the pandemic waves. Casefatality at 30days increased from 10.3% to 10.8% for AIS, and from 26.5% to 27.6% for ICH before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic waves were associated with a decreasing decline in the volume of stroke hospitalizations, nevertheless fewer and probably the most severe patients were able to reach the hospital within the therapeutic windows. We observed different pattern of variations across the three hub-and-spoke systems.
ABSTRACT
During a pandemic, the media play a crucial role. Through their work, they can be valuable allies for those who exercise government roles and must manage a crisis of this magnitude. For example, the use of alarmist frames or highly emotional and dramatized narrative expedients can fuel a sense of vulnerability in public opinion, thus helping institutions to indirectly enforce and respect strongly stringent and limiting rules for personal freedom but essential to counter the spread of the virus. The media can also play a «service role» directly, that is provide practical indications on the rules to follow and the habits to adopt, helping readers to manage the problems and risks of everyday life. The Italian case is an excellent case study to analyze the role of the press during the pandemic, because it represents a clear example of a «polarized pluralist» model of journalism, characterized by high levels of polarization and politicization and where this «service role» of journalism is not commonly exercised. Analyzing the coverage of the Italian press in two key moments of the spread of the pandemic, this paper aims to outline the role played by the press in the management of the Covid-19 emergency and its contribution to the spread of the policies implemented by the Government to fight the virus © 2021, Comunicazione Politica. All Rights Reserved.