COVID-19 and Heart Failure: Cardiovascular Deaths During the Pandemic in Algeria

Heart diseases are among the injuries that have recently spread terribly in Algeria, especially after changing the diet and increasing stress and pressures of daily life, and these diseases are still among the first causes of death in Algeria, especially in light of the Covid19 pandemic, which contributed to delaying diagnosis and creating heart complication for some victims, and according to what some specialists confirmed, 15 cases of heart diseases are recorded for every 100 cases of Covid19.

Professor Mohamed Bouafia, head of the Algerian Association of Cardiology, revealed that 4000 new cases of cardiovascular diseases were recorded in 2021, at the University Hospital of Blida, adding that the Covid19 pandemic disrupted the diagnosis of these diseases, and the follow-up of those infected with them, especially during 2020.

Pr. Mohamed Bouafia reported that in every 100 patients with the Covid19, 15 people develop heart diseases; “Most of those who entered the emergency department because of Covid 19, miraculously escaped death due to the effect of the virus on the heart”.

Pr. Mohamed Bouafia believes that “Covid19 has not been clearly defined, as studies are still ongoing, to learn more about this virus”.

Mohamed Bouafia, head of the Algerian Association of Cardiology, regrets that heart disease in Algeria remains at the forefront of other diseases, and the first cause of death, unlike European countries in which it has fallen to second place, warning of the complexity of the health situation in light of the fourth wave of Covid19, which may re-close the services of the treatment and follow-up of heart disease patients.

Bouafia advised for the need to prevent infection with Covid19, which, according to him, if it does not lead to death, the mere illness with it, especially after the delay in its diagnosis, may leave serious heart diseases; “The risk of infection with corona is followed by the risk of heart disease”.

For his part, Professor Nibouche Djamaleddine, Head of the Cardiology Department at Nafisa Hammoud “Parnet” Hospital, in Hussein Dey, Algiers said that the use of chloroquine had a slight effect on the heart muscle for many people infected with the Covid19 and who were treated with this drug, especially those who suffered previously from heart problems, explaining that Covid19 exposed people who were suffering from heart diseases without being diagnosed or treated.

Pr. Nibouche added that the Covid19 had health effects that appear after recovery, including inflammation of the heart muscle and arteries and cardiac arrest, asserting that the closure of the diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases during 2020, had a great impact on the high incidence of serious infections with these diseases.

Blood tests have shown that during COVID19, some people have elevated levels of a substance called troponin in their blood, along with EKG changes and chest pain.” Elevated troponin levels are a sign of damaged heart tissue. Sometimes this is from a heart attack. This is less commonly seen after COVID19.