01 Oct COVID-19 Causes an Acute Inflammatory State
COVID-19 causes an acute inflammatory state. When the virus goes in through your nose, your hands through your mouth, just know that it causes instantaneous inflammation. It’s an infection – it’s in a foreign body. Our body starts immediately trying to fight off the infection. Instead of our body making albumin, our body starts making C reactive protein and other negative phase reactive proteins then that infection has inflammation and what has happened according to our residents and our patients in the literature is a decreased appetite.
A decrease in appetite results in increasing the risks of weight loss, therefore nutrition declines. We know that COVID is an infection, all infections are hypermetabolic, catabolic and febrile and if the resident has a fever, you can increase calories by 7.8% for every temperature degree, you are above 98.6 – that is significant. COVID-19 increases your calorie fluid and protein needs. Many healthy young people, including teens and youthful adults are COVID carriers, they are positive that they’re asymptomatic carriers. When you involve yourself with a person that’s a carrier, they may be completely asymptomatic. However, you may be the unfortunate one that picks up this virus and depending on the person. So how can we combat the risk of weight lost & malnutrition? With a care plan.
We provide these weight loss care plans to all our clients. Interim plans of care should be implemented as soon as possible after admission between 24-72 hours for nutritional problems. If a resident has COPD they’re at nutritional risk. If they also have diabetes, poor intakes and had recent significant weight loss. So our goal for this particular patient is to maintain a weight of 150 to 155.
Our approaches are to:
- consult the dietitian
- obtain food preferences
- add fortified food
- monitor weights and intakes
This is just a sample of a care plan and again, our survey process requires inner nutrition plans of care as well as other nutrition plans of care to address issues, including an example of pressure ulcers. We want to start these interventions that are feasible and simplistic after identifying high risk status by your dietary management team and your nursing staff. Please remember that if you are a Nutritious Lifestyles client we are here for you & available to help with your nutrition needs! For more information on nutrition interventions and care during COVID-19, check out our webinar: Keeping You, Your Clients, and Staff Healthy While Delivering Safe, High-Quality Food and Dining Services
