City cases rise but fewer in hospital
THE Covid infection rate in Swansea has risen in the past week – but the number of people in hospital with the virus has gone down again.
According to Public Health Wales’ latest figures, 18 areas of the city have “low numbers” of infections. Twenty areas of Swansea were in the lowest category – with two or fewer cases detected over seven days – last week.
The overall infection rate for Swansea is 48.2 cases per 100,000, slightly above the Waleswide average of 43.3 and up from the rate of 29.2 reported in the city last week.
A further four deaths of people with coronavirus in Wales were recorded yesterday, bringing the total number of people who have died in Wales within 28 days of a positive test for the virus to 5,467.
Across the Swansea Bay University Health Board area, 217 of the 1,032 general and acute beds in use are occupied by patients with Covid19.
This is down nine from last week and has dropped by 66 over the last three weeks.
Only one of the 33 “invasive” ventilated beds were occupied by Covid-19 patients – this figure is two fewer than last week.
The number of vaccine doses administered by Swansea Bay University Health Board stood at 175,890 on Wednesday afternoon, last week’s total was 147,551.
Mynyddbach now has the highest coronavirus infection rate in Swansea, with 15 cases detected there over the latest seven-day period and an infection rate of 165 per 100,000 people.
The area had the highest infection rate two weeks ago but recorded fewer than two cases last week.
Gorseinon is the area with the lowest infection rate for the second consecutive week, according to the most recent data from Public Health Wales.
Uplands, the area with the highest infection rate last week, only saw three cases recorded in the latest seven-day period.
This data shows a breakdown of different parts of the city:
The total number of cases is followed by the incidence per 100,000 population (rounded to the nearest whole number), starting with the area with the highest infection rate: Mynyddbach - 15, 165
Llangyfelach & Tircoed - 8, 95
Morriston South - 7, 92 Townhill - 8, 88 St Thomas - 7, 85 Central Swansea - 8, 78 Gowerton - 5, 75 Llansamlet - 4, 57 Tycoch - 4, 49 Clydach & Mawr - 4, 42 Bonymaen - 3, 40 Uplands - 3, 31 Landore - 3, 29 Killay - 0-2, fewer than 40
Llanmorlais & Three Crosses - 0-2, fewer than 40
Dunvant and Upper Killay - 0-2, fewer than 36 Mayals & Bishopston 0-2 , fewer than 35 West Cross - 0-2, fewer than 31 Sketty - 0-2, fewer than 32
West Gower - 0-2, fewer than 32 Pontarddulais - 0-2, fewer than 30 Cockett - 0-2, fewer than 28 Cwmbwrla - 0-2, fewer than 26 Mumbles & Newton 0-2, fewer than 27 Birchgrove - 0-2, fewer than 25 Ravenhill - 0-2, fewer than 24 Morriston North - 0-2, fewer than 23
Penderry - 0-2, fewer than 21
Loughor - 0-2, fewer than 21
Brynmill - 0-2, fewer than 20
Gorseinon - 0-2, fewer than 19
It is really important to bear in mind, however, that this data is very volatile because it covers such small areas.
Where an area has a very small population even one positive case can push up the rate of cases per 100,000 significantly.
You should therefore be cautious about drawing too many conclusions directly from the information.
A MOTHER says her son could have died because “Covid confusion” led to late diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.
Fynn Hannify started feeling ill in November last year. The usually fit and active 10 year-old, from Neath Port Talbot, began losing weight rapidly, felt tired and thirsty.
His parents Nicola and David and teachers noticed he was not his usual self but Nicola said she could not get a face to face appointment for him at the GP.
“He looked like a bag of bones, so drawn, and tired. He was very lethargic and dehydrated, so the doctors thought he had Covid and sent him for a test that came back negative.
“Because he was eating and drinking we were told that he would be fine and was booked for blood tests in a few days.”
Eventually she said Fynn got a face to face appointment, but was told again he probably had a virus.
When her son suddenly got worse on the drive home Nicola decided to drive him straight to Morriston Hospital.
“It was frightening, he was white as a sheet, floppy and also had shortness of breath. We were so worried, so took him to accident and emergency where he was diagnosed and treated for type 1 diabetes,” she said.
Fynn was so ill by then that he stayed in hospital for a week. He now has to inject himself several times a day with insulin.
Nicola said Fynn has been “brave and resilient” but said she was told by one of the hospital doctors he could have died. She wants to highlight the risk of late diagnosis, especially during the pandemic.
“I feel a bit that their concern was just whether it was Covid or not and other things are not urgent.
“Fynn is normally a very active little boy and loves being out with his friends and this happened so quickly.
“When I first rang the surgery they were only doing telephone consultations and you are thinking you don’t want to overwhelm with something.”
Nicola praised the hospital medics but said the diagnosis was a “huge shock” to her son, who will now need to give himself insulin injections several times a day for life.
Last year, Diabetes UK Cymru warned that fears of Covid-19 and the impact of the pandemic on the health service were resulting in an increase of missed or late diagnoses.
Last month it emerged that a child with undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes died because of delays seeking medical help during the pandemic.
Professor Adrian Edwards, a part-time GP and Professor of General Practice at Cardiff University, told the Senedd’s Children, Young People and Education Committee the child was a patient at his practice in Torfaen.
Type 1 diabetes causes the level of glucose in the blood to become too high when the body cannot produce enough insulin to control it. It is usually treated with daily injections of insulin. The condition is not the same as type 2 diabetes which is linked to age and weight.
Nicola said she and her husband David, who both work from home for the DVLA, will now also have to watch for possible signs of Type 1 diabetes in their two other children, Holly, 12 and Thomas, two. Anyone can get the condition and it can run in families.
Dai Williams, National Director at Diabetes UK Cymru, said: “Fynn’s case shows how serious a late or missed diagnosis of type 1 diabetes can be.
“The condition can be overlooked and dismissed. Last year, a child of a similar age died as a result of undiagnosed diabetes in Wales, because of delays seeking medical help during the pandemic.
“Type 1 diabetes is easily overlooked and symptoms can be mistaken for viral infections, particularly in children and young people, which can lead to emergencies.
“Covid-19 has just confused matters more, with diagnoses being missed or delayed. We’re urging people to not let fears of Covid-19 stop them from seeking medical help and also for parents, carers, healthcare professionals and the public in general to be aware of the symptoms, as lockdown has disrupted face-to-face opportunities to educate the Welsh population about what can quickly become a life-threatening condition”
Dr Anjula Mehta, Group Medical Director for Primary Care, Community and Therapies Services for Swansea Bay University Health Board, said: “We are very sorry to hear of this patient’s experience.
“Whilst we cannot discuss individual cases without the patient’s or parents’ permission, I would like to reassure the family and wider public that learning from this case will be shared with all service teams to ensure we achieve consistent, quality patient centred care in every contact.
“I appreciate that healthcare services are operating in different ways at present due to the pandemic, but I want to stress that general practice is here for you, the service is open and ready to respond to your needs.”
Jane Phillips, Interim Head of Nursing for Children and Young People for the health board, added: “We urge all parents to be aware of the symptoms of diabetes type I in children. In most cases they are diagnosed at the first point of medical contact.
“The National Children and Young People’s Diabetes Network, which includes our paediatric diabetes team, works alongside GPS and Diabetes UK to continue to improve care for children with this condition.”
Possible signs of the condition are: ■ Toilet - Going to the toilet a lot, bed wetting by a previously dry child or heavier nappies in babies ■ Thirsty - Being really thirsty and not being able to quench the thirst ■ Tired - Feeling more tired than usual ■ Thinner - Losing weight or looking thinner