‘Covid more lethal among people with non-communicable diseases’

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 12

With over 3,500 people testing Covid-positive in the past month, there seems to be no respite from the soaring Covid-19 cases in the city. The surge in number of cases and fatalities among doctors and other frontline workers has also made medicos cautious of the mutation in the virus. The doctors at both — government and private health centres — are encouraging people to get vaccinated.

While mentioning the complications associated with the new Covid strain, Dr Ravinder Bharadwaj, a cardiovascular researcher and a cardiologist at Tagore Hospital, stated that a large number of people infected with the virus were experiencing mild to moderate respiratory illness and lung congestion. The elderly and those with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, kidney disease and cancer were more likely to develop serious illness.

“There is no end to the patient count at our hospital. The demand for oxygen cylinders and ventilators has also gone up. The virus’ mutant is mainly affecting heart and lungs. In people suffering from cardiovascular diseases, the mutant is causing myocarditis, heart attack or myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation,” he said.

Dr Bharadwaj said, “People who have NCDs are 10 times more predisposed to getting infected with Covid. While the chances of the virus turning fatal in healthy persons is only 1.2 per cent, in persons with NCDs it rises to six to eight per cent as they have poor immunological response and are prone to lung infection, heart attacks and acute respiratory distress syndrome. When patients with NCDs turn critical and need to be put on ventilator support, their chance of fatality increases to 80 per cent.”

Throwing light on the possibility of Covid mutation, he said a virus mutates when it had been exposed to a large number of people. He said the best ways to reduce transmission included washing hands frequently, wearing a mask, physical distancing, good ventilation and avoiding crowded places adding that vaccination could protect the people from the disease and also lower the risk of mutations in the virus.

Manipal Kasturba Medical College alumnus Dr Bhardwaj is a certified cardiologist. He has won several research awards, including a national-level award for excellence in research in USA — 2013 Tinsley Harrison Award.