The rapid development of pneumonia in Roman Kostomarov puzzled experts

The condition of Tatyana Navka’s partner in ice dancing, Olympic champion Roman Kostomarov remains stably heavy. He was placed on a ventilator in Kommunarka, he developed sepsis, but at the same time, according to the media, the test for coronavirus was negative. What is sick of the Olympic champion? How true are PCR tests in this case? Why did it take so long for Nikita Mikhalkov to establish a covid diagnosis? We asked experts.

Nikita Mikhalkov, as everyone claimed at the beginning, also had the usual flu, and only then was confirmed covid pneumonia.

It is known that Kostomarov’s disease developed rapidly. On holidays, the athlete still actively performed at ice shows, and before he was placed in the hospital, he communicated well with reporters. But on the evening of January 9, the figure skater’s condition deteriorated sharply. During hospitalization, 45-year-old Kostomarov was diagnosed with left-sided pneumonia.

Meanwhile, as Russian therapists share, after the New Year holidays, there have been significantly more people at receptions in clinics. This is natural. Everyone went to work and began to get infected from each other, besides, during the long weekend, many held out to the last, trying not to go to the doctor, self-medicated – and this is the result.

Although the coronavirus is now not as “evil” as it used to be, and even the new strain “Kraken” behaves, according to experts, not so aggressively. Much more dangerous is the “good old” flu, which our compatriots have lost the habit of over the three years of the pandemic.

Just the flu can give a rapid course of the disease and severe complications. Recall the same “pork” strain. In 2009, there was an outbreak, and at the same time, WHO stated that it was not the elderly who were most susceptible to infection, but people under 50 years of age.

The lethality of swine flu was estimated at about 1%, those about 1,000 deaths per 100,000 infected. Most of the deaths were due to pneumonia, the age of the victims did not exceed 49 years. On average, the same 1% of patients died from coronavirus, but in an older age category.

We asked a Moscow general practitioner what exactly Roman Kostomarov could be ill with. And how do you tell the 2023 flu from COVID-19?

“The flu at lightning speed leads to a deterioration in the condition, up to a lethal one. It can give serious complications to the heart. Moreover, some symptoms are even similar: a flu patient can also be disturbed by aching bones, a severe headache, just like a patient with covid. So it’s easy to confuse one with the other. Although with the flu, the temperature is usually higher than with the coronavirus, up to 40 degrees.

– And if pneumonia is diagnosed, is it covid?

– Lung tissue can be affected in both cases. Only with coronavirus it is rather pneumonitis, inflammation of the vascular wall of the alveoli, and with influenza – pneumonia.

With pneumonitis, a bacterial infection practically does not join. But with ordinary pneumonia, it happens often. In this case, the patient should be treated with antibiotics. But antibiotics will not help against a viral disease.

– What do you think Kostomarov might have?

– It is impossible to guess on coffee grounds without seeing the patient and his medical history. An accurate diagnosis here is possible only after an additional examination, including CT scan with contrast, laboratory tests. Yes, PCR does not always show coronavirus, especially not in the early days when the disease has already descended into the lungs.

Now, by the way, the virus of a new strain does not always descend into the lungs. Therefore, the disease can proceed a little easier. But more detailed analyzes, of course, can reveal what the infected person is still sick with and prescribe an adequate treatment regimen.

– At the very beginning of the pandemic, it was often said that the stronger the immune system, the worse it could be. Since the immune system of a healthy and young organism reacts to the pathogen too strongly, extremely, and this condition can potentially lead to the so-called cytokine storm. And that can even end in death.

– Yes, with a cytokine storm, the immune system begins to attack the cells of its own body, severe inflammation develops, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. It turns out a kind of vicious circle: the stronger the inflammation, the stronger the reaction to it. At the beginning of the pandemic, this was a huge problem. Many died just from this. Most often, hormonal drugs with anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects were prescribed. That is, the patient’s own immunity was suppressed so that he would not behave too aggressively.

– Kostomarov – healthy man, athlete. Could these be at risk?

– Indeed, young men up to 40-45 years old are more prone to such a condition. But, I repeat, without knowing the real picture of the disease, it is impossible to judge something, let alone make predictions. Let’s hope that the body will cope …

The head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, also sounded the alarm on the eve of a new rise in the incidence of influenza: the decrease observed at the end of 2022 turned out to be imaginary due to the New Year, as people sought medical help less, therefore, new cases were simply not registered.

“Literally in recent days, we have seen a daily increase in the number of cases, non-critical,” Popova added.

The head of Rospotrebnadzor explained that the influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus is being replaced by B, which usually indicates the tail of the epidemiological rise. She noted that now complications in the form of bronchitis and pneumonia are not uncommon.

Read the material “Miracle Yudo “Kraken”: the most contagious strain of covid has come to Russia”