India reported two cases of Lakh Covid on Friday. (Photo: PTI)
India reported over 2 lakh Covid-19 cases for the second year in a row on Friday, adding to our fears and fears about what lies ahead.
Are there any new symptoms? When should remdesivir be used? When should a patient be hospitalized? On his News Today program at 9 a.m., Rajdeep Sardesai, editor of India Today TV Consulting, spoke to the best doctors in the country for answers to these questions and more.
Q: Are there any new symptoms?
Dr. Hemant Thacker, Consultant Physician and Cardiometabolic Specialist, Breach Candy, Jaslok, Bhatia and Reliance Hospitals:
Covid 2.0 is suspiciously slow and is creeping into the system. The patient has very mild symptoms for the first 3-4 days. And it’s on the 7th or 8th day, two days later than in the case of the previous Covid, when the fever just doesn’t break. Although there is a lull in the fever for a while. And when you examine the patient you find that the CT scan is bad and you have to give the patient steroids. So we get a later presentation of serious symptoms. It gives the patient a false sense of security that it is weak and mild.
Q: What do I do if I have Covid symptoms but the test is negative? Should we look at the CT value in an RT-PCR report?
Dr. Harsh Mahajan, Founder and Chief Radiologist, Mahajan Imaging:
It happened in the first wave. It happens just as often now. If you have Covid symptoms, and even if you get a negative RT-PCR report, isolate yourself. Because we saw that the first report can be negative, but if you do it again after 2-3 days it can turn positive. The other way to diagnose in the right clinical setting is through the CT scan.
CT score and CT scan are two different things. The CT value on an RT-PCR report is a rough approximation of the viral load. The lower the CT value, the higher the viral load. As you know, the CT scan is an imaging test. It is different from the CT value. The incubation period of this virus is quite long. It can vary between 2 and 14 days, with an average of 5 days. If you take a test very early on, you might get a negative report. RT-PCR tests alone give about 30% false negative results.
Q: is remdesivir useful in preventing deaths? When should it be taken?
Dr. Rama Narasimhan, Senior Internal Medicine Advisor, Apollo Hospital, Chennai and Special Medical Advisor to the US Consulate
We have very clear guidelines for using Remdesivir. The patient should be someone who can warrant admission to hospital. That is, it should be symptomatic and low on oxygen. It is not intended for patients with very mild symptoms who can be treated at home. This means that the oxygen saturation is okay. It’s a short therapy course. We use it for 5 days. Very rarely do we extend it to 10 days.
Q: When should a patient apply for hospitalization?
Dr. Vivek Nangia, Chief Executive and Head, Pulmonology, Max Healthcare:
In fact, people panic a lot these days and even on the first day they want to be taken to the hospital. We are inundated with phone calls. Guidelines state that hospital stays should only occur if the elderly’s oxygen levels drop below 94 percent or 92 percent. There’s no point in getting to the hospital earlier. The first phase is mild if you have a cough, cold, low fever, any type of body ache, loose movements, and loss of smell and taste. It’s only the second phase of the disease when you have pneumonia and drops of oxygen and feel breathless. This is the only time you should go to a hospital. Or when the fever is relentless and does not calm down. Or when you vomit or have other such problems. Not different.
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