PUNE: On June 19, a 75-year-old man succumbed to Covid complications at a private hospital here. He was the second Covid-linked casualty in Pune after a month.
Doctors had followed protocol while treating him, but there was one glaring miss - his Covid test sample was not sent for genome sequencing.
Experts have urged hospitals not to be lax about sending samples of hospitalised patients for genome sequencing. "Sequencing samples of such patients and those who have died is priority," state surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate said, adding that the analysis is key to ruling out presence of new variants in the community.
Dr Sanjeev Wavare, nodal officer for Covid-19, PMC, said the elderly man was not a resident of Pune. He said, "The man was from Mumbai and had multiple underlying conditions. We have also asked hospitals to send samples of young and healthy individuals who are admitted."
Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, head of the sequencing lab at BJ Medical College said, "Irrespective of age or comorbidities, every admitted Covid patient's sample needs to be sent for sequencing. We are struggling to get samples from Pune. It is critical we track newer variants, so that interventions can be initiated on time."
A doctor at the Chellaram Diabetes Institute in Bavdhan, where the elderly Covid patient had died, said, "We will check with our lab if it still has the infected nasal swab sample so that we can send it for sequencing."
