Management of critically ill COVID-19 patients: challenges and affordable solutions

Abstract

I read with great interest the paper of Metogo and colleagues about the critically ill COVID-19 patients in Africa. The authors stressed some persistent challenges of the anaesthesiologist-intensivist physicians due to lack or insufficient Intensive Care Units (ICU) beds and mechanical ventilators and paucity of ICU physicians and nurses. As Italian intensivist, with some experiences in Africa (the last ones in South Sudan and Angola, with the Italian NGO Doctors with Africa) and with experience with critically ill COVID-19 patients, I would like to suggest some affordable solutions that could be adopted in many African hospitals.

Keywords

• covid-19
• severe pneumonia
• non-invasive ventilation
• solutions