Rising trend in Andhra Pradesh: No symptom of Covid, sudden death

VISAKHAPATNAM: A doctor working at the ART Centre in the premises of the old government general hospital in Vijayawada recently developed breathing difficulties all of a sudden. Upon detecting abnormalities in his chest X-ray, he was wheeled into the Covid-19 hospital where he succumbed to the disease on the same day.
The death of the doctor, who treated patients even a day before he exhibited any Covid-19 symptoms and other similar casualties in recent times, has brought into focus the topic of sudden death among asymptomatic patients in Andhra Pradesh.
A super-spreader, who is believed to have transmitted the disease to at least 200 people in Pedapudi and neighbouring mandals in East Godavari district, died within half-an-hour after being admitted to a hospital in Kakinada. Another Covid-19 patient was declared brought dead in Amalapuram region three days ago.
Similar cases have been reported in other districts, where the health of Covid-19 patients have deteriorated suddenly, leading to death within hours or a day since the onset of symptoms.
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Experts say that even if such asymptomatic patients appear stable, the virus may have already damaged the organs, partly by depleting blood oxygen levels. This leaves little to no sufficient time for doctors to restore the health of the victims.
Consultant pulmonologist at Seven Hills Hospital, Dr Vamsi Krishna, said that the outcome of the treatment primarily depends on the severity of the disease as well as the immunity level of the patient.

“However, some Covid-19 patients do not exhibit any acute abnormality despite having exceedingly low blood oxygen levels. When it comes to sudden deaths, silent hypoxia and the consequent complications may have led to sudden de-compensation,” said Dr Vamsi Krishna.
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Senior genetics professor at Andhra University (AU) Dr G Sudhakar said, “As per the emerging Covid-19 literature on the virus, treatment outcomes and medication trials across the world, the majority of the patients are asymptomatic. But the absence of symptoms does not mean no harm. By the time the patients were admitted to the hospital, some might have already slipped into a critical condition, causing irreversible damage to the vital organs. This might be the reason for the sudden deaths in some patients. In fact, the asymptomatic ones can spread the disease fast due to the absence of any symptoms,” said Prof Sudhakar.