Following the State Death Audit Committee’s conclusion that COVID-19 was an incidental finding in nine of the 10 deaths that have been analysed so far, the State Health Department will soon issue directions to doctors to focus on targeted treatment of comorbidities.
State Health Commissioner Randeep D. told The Hindu on Tuesday that early and proper triaging in comorbid COVID-19 patients is very important in the light of the Death Audit committee’s analysis. “People need not panic as although the JN.1 sub-variant is highly transmissible, the virulence is not high,” he said.
“Only one of the 10 deaths analysed was due to COVID-19 as concluded by the Death Audit committee. The other deaths were mainly where COVID-19 exacerbated the pre-existing comorbidity or where COVID-19 was an incidental finding. So, doctors would have to focus more on targeted treatment of comorbidities after early and proper triaging in comorbid COVID-19 patients,” he said.
Mr. Randeep said the State’s Clinical Protocol Committee has now been asked to give its opinion on clinical guidelines to be issued to doctors. “Based on that we will reiterate directions,” he said.
Review meeting
Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, who held a meeting on Tuesday with heads of medical institutions and hospitals under his purview and TAC members to review COVID-19 preparedness, called upon people not to panic and instead take precautions.
Although the WHO and many health experts have stated that the JN.1 sub-variant is unlikely to cause serious health problems in the infected, senior citizens and those with comorbidities can get vaccinated at district hospitals from Wednesday, he said.
Clarifying on the availability of medicine, oxygen beds, and equipment, the Minister said there was no dearth of funds for COVID-19 management. A proposal will be sent to the Finance Department regarding purchase of equipment and recruitment of staff in some hospitals, he said.
Early reporting
C.N. Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, who attended the review meeting, said it is important that those with comorbidities should focus on proper management of their pre-existing diseases. “Four of the deceased patients analysed by the Death Audit committee had diabetes while the others had chronic liver disease, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cerebral vascular accident, and even schizophrenia. One of them had Interstitial lung disease and was bedridden for 18 months. They were not admitted for COVID-19 but tested positive on admission,” he said.
Asserting that over 80% of the deaths in the third wave were also among those with comorbidities, Dr. Manjunath said: “We had noticed that a majority of the deaths in the third wave could have been prevented if patients had reported early. The pattern of deaths in the second wave was different from the third. We had seen people developing breathlessness and succumbing to the disease on the seventh or eighth day during the second wave.”
