Improper medication is leading to chaos: Expert

Tirupati: Panic situation and improper medication are complicating the Covid-19 management in several patients and leading to so much chaos, says senior consultant physician and vice-chairperson of Association of Physicians of India, AP state, Dr P Krishna Prasanthi. In an interview to The Hans India on the Covid-19 management, particularly for those under home isolation, she said that when they are having any symptoms, people are going for test and using medication on their own.

When people go for home isolation on their own, it would be difficult to track them in a proper way and extend timely medical care. This has been pushing many of them into critical situations and this is one reason for the increasing oxygen requirement. Using all the medicines at a time as they get the list of prescribed medicines for Covid-19 patients through WhatsApp is a cause for concern, she said.

All Covid-19 positive patients should invariably go for triage (where order of treatment is decided) and take proper advice to proceed further. This will automatically bring them under tracking through which their day to day health parameters can be monitored by qualified people who can advise them what medicines are to be used from time to time.

"There should be a judicious use of antibiotics. For instance, both Azithromycin and Doxycycline should not be used simultaneously. After completing the course of Azithromycin only other antibiotics are to be used. Steroids should not be taken during the first five days. Only if fever is not subsiding after 5th day, if CT scan shows a high CORADS score or if inflammatory markers are high in blood, selected steroid tablets are to be used and that too on doctors' advice only," she explained.

Further, people with BP, sugar, thyroid and any other comorbidities have to continue their regular medication. For everything, patients should get the advice of their family doctor or any other qualified doctors only. They have to monitor their saturation levels using pulse oximeter for every 4-5 hours, BP levels and sugar levels using glucometer.

Apart from Covid positive patients, all their family members also should be under home isolation since the virus is found to be spreading through the air. Those who tested RT-PCR positive but are asymptomatic have to be under home isolation for 10 days from the first day of onset of clinical symptoms.

Dr Prasanthi also said that patients who are in home isolation should be admitted to hospital if they have any sudden difficulty in breathing, any chest discomfort or chest pain of sudden onset. She underlined that patients should not go for CT scan in mild illness and in early phases of infection. Repeated CT scans in a short period are not good for health. Doctors will advise when a patient should undergo a CT scan, she said.