Monday, 10 APril 2023 | Dr BKS Sanjay | in Guest Column
GUEST COLUMN
Dr. BKS Sanjay
Resurgence of Covid-19 infection is not a nightmare at this stage but considering the experience of the past Covid waves who knows when it may turn out to be so. In that case, it could be disastrous. I would suggest that all stakeholders should keep in mind the dictum of prevention is better than cure. I would appeal to the people to avoid unnecessary gathering, travelling and any other recreational activities in the coming time till the government issues certain guidelines.
Any viral infection including Covid-19 presents with fever, fatigue, headache, bodyache, sore throat and running nose.These are the common features but recent loss of taste and smell, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea are considered to be among the symptoms of Covid-19 infection.In general we should take measures to prevent the spread of infection by frequent washing of hands with soap and water or rubbing the hands with commercially available sanitizers. The habit of hand hygiene should be observed in homes and in schools.It should be an essential part of the primary education curriculum. Once any habit is formed it is difficult to change. The importance of hand hygiene and technique of hand washing should be taught to children in simple words and simple ways. If the cleaning of hands is done in a group and in a play mode then children will acquire it faster.
As we have seen in the earlier Covid waves, the fatality has been more in the patients who were suffering with the co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, hypothyroidism, obesity and having other lifestyle habits of sedentary life, smoking and alcohol abuse. All of these conditions are known to reduce immunity and make the sufferers prone to increased chances of infection. Gradual changes should be made in the lifestyle habits so as to reduce the chances of developing these lifestyle diseases.
Another observation which was made during the earlier Covid waves was that urban people were more affected than the rural population. It could be attributed to the adulteration of food and pollution of the air. Considering the above fact, not only the policy makers but all stakeholders should make sincere attempts to reduce adulteration and pollution.
As the resurgence of Covid-19 infections in the country entered the eight week, India recorded 6,050 new cases of Covid-19 on April 6 which is the highest daily tally since September 15 last year. The Government of India has taken the resurgence seriously. The Union Health minister held a review meeting to assess the current situation with top officials including the Health ministers of all States and Union Territories of the country. The Union Health minister has instructed that the share of RT- PCR should be increased all over the country. The positivity rate on the current date is 6.4 per cent which is not alarming.The Union Health minister has requested all the State Health ministers to personally monitor and review the preparedness to deal with the resurgence of the Covid-19 at the earliest.
The health officials can have the control of logistics and medicines but have no control on the behaviour of the virus. How the virus behaves in an individual body is an important and urgent issue. The severity of the infection and the development of the new variants are more serious issues. Every new variant is presenting with more fatalities as has been seen in the past particularly in the second and third wave. It has been more difficult to deal with the emergence of new variants. This is not specific to Covid- 19 but is the character of all viruses.
New variants of the Covid-19 virus are still emerging and spreading even among vaccinated people. New variants may be more transmissible and more fatal than existing ones. It is a matter of concern for all policy makers.
As I mentioned earlier humans do not have much control on the emergence of new variants. However we all can take precautions. First, one should not get infected and if anyhow one gets infected then one should make all effort to prevent the spread of the infection first to the near and dear then to the others.
In my opinion, first, the whole nation should start again a mass movement to spread awareness to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection. Second, focus should be laid on increasing the body’s immunity by taking balanced and nutritious diet. Thirdly, there is no harm in continuing or restarting the trend of taking (kadha) or concoction of various medicinal herbs as was suggested by the AYUSH ministry.
The vaccine made against Covid-19 does not give a lifelong protection similar to influenza infection. I think as we need re-vaccination for prevention of influenza virus similarly we need re-vaccination for Covid-19 virus infection. The influenza vaccine is generally given yearly to prevent seasonal influenza. Learning from the influenza vaccine, I think the concept of re-vaccinations should be considered. The pros and cons of re-vaccinations should be considered and discussed thoroughly by all policy makers keeping in mind the dictum of prevention is better than cure.
It is appealed to all stakeholders to act once again accordingly as we all did during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic in the past. I am sure that with the efforts of all stakeholders under the guidance of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the nation will once again win the war against the resurgence of Covid-19 infection as it did in the past.
(The author is a Padma Shri recipient orthopaedic surgeon. Views expressed are personal)
