Young diabetic patients more prone to the virus: Dr Vamsi Krishna

Ongole: The youngsters who are affected with diabetes, people whose blood relatives are more likely to suffer from Covid than others, opined Dr M Vamsi Krishna, superintendent of Ramesh Sanghamitra Hospital in Ongole.

What should patients with mild symptoms do?

He advised the Covid positive people to stay in home isolation if they have mild symptoms, but asked them to monitor BP, SPO2 and body temperature to shift to the hospital as early as possible. Not every person with symptoms required admitting to the hospital. He advised all people, irrespective of they are young or old, and to consult the doctors immediately they exhibit symptoms and follow their advice to stay at home isolation or join COVID Care Centres or admit to the hospital.

What should home isolation patients do?

Those under home isolation should always wear masks, sanitise hands often even after touching the masks, maintain at least 2 meters distance with the family members. Moreover, monitor body temperature, blood pressure, SPO2 levels in regular intervals. If the patients at home isolation have fever continuously for 3 days, acute weakness, severe cough, unable to take a deep breath, oxygen levels dropping below even after a small walk, kindly to go to the hospital. If they are able to admit into the hospital early, then they could recover completely, he assured.

What steps should a diabetic patient take?

The doctor observed that more number of young diabetics is losing lives in the battle as they are exhibiting tolerance to the Coronavirus in the earlier days, but their bodies are not able to fight by the time their lungs are severely damaged and joining the hospitals in last minutes. He advised that though they have mild symptoms, they should test the inflammatory markers through HRCT Scan, D Dimer test etc., for every 3 or 4 days following the suggestion of the doctors, to react fast and admit into the hospital if the infection is increasing.

Dr Vamsi informed that following the mortality pattern in the Covid victims since last year, they observed that the people whose first-degree relatives, the blood relatives, are infected with the Coronavirus are also getting severely infected easily even though they are at far distances. He said that the research papers already published have established that the particular gene pattern is making the persons more susceptible to the Coronavirus infection. He said that the results published in those papers are also proved to be dependable in his personal study of 60 families as they have abnormal immune response towards the virus. So, he asked the people whose family members have died due to COVID to be more alert and let the inflammatory markers observed every 3 days and take medical care before it turns out to be fatal for them. He also asked the patients and their family members not to force the doctors to use steroids, as the drugs are useless unless they are used in time.

What are the preventive measures to be taken to beat the virus?

The doctor opined that prevention is better than cure. He asked the public not to go outside, but if they should go then they should use double masks and sanitise hands for every few minutes, even though they didn't touch any surface. He advised the young diabetics and people having Covid-19 victims in blood relatives for early diagnosis even through the rapid antigen test if they have fever, sore throat, irresistible cough and protect themselves and their family members easily.