Covid deaths could have been pared if patients had sought timely medical assistance: Experts

MANGALURU: An audit of 35 out of 38 Covid-19 deaths in Dakshina Kannada that has indicated delay on part of patients seeking medical help as the cause saw medical experts appeal to the people not to neglect symptoms. Fear of hospitals and lack of trust in doctors though seems normal in this time of pandemic is irrational and majority of the deaths could have been avoided had the patients come forth, the experts held forth candidly on Saturday.
If 26 of these deaths categorised ‘Covid associated’ occurred due to co-morbid conditions being present in the patients, four deaths have been termed coincidental Covid-19 positive including a patient who succumbed to liver cirrhosis. In four others, it was a case of Covid pneumonia and one was a non-Covid death. Incidentally, 21 out of 35 deaths have been reported in those aged above 50 with those aged 60-70 accounting for 11 of them.
Even in the deaths reported in those aged below 50, patients had severe co-morbid conditions and Covid-19 only accentuated the same. The audit surmised that five of these deaths were in patients outside Dakshina Kannada district (3 from Bhaktal and one each from Chitradurga and Kodagu) and rest were residents of the district. The experts had a simple message – take care of the elderly and bring them for treatment at the first instance of illness.
Admitting that statistics are scary, Dr Sharath Babu, one of the 13-experts said on the contrary, the medical team at designated Covid19 hospital have affected 15 critical recoveries from the ICU of district Wenlock Hospital. Barring the first five deaths in the district, the ICU has managed these critical recoveries in six cases among patients with co-morbidities only because they were diagnosed on time and treatment initiated promptly, he said.
This reversal of deaths is possible only when patients come to doctors on time, Dr Hansraj Alva, said dismissing notions that hospitals are seeking to profit from the situation. Pandemic can be handled only with patient-doctor trust. Noting that the district does not have capacity for mass testing as of now, he said till such time is imperative for every citizen to treat self as positive and take all mandated precautions to ensure they do not infect others.
DC Sindhu B Rupesh said the district will receive rapid antigen detection kits on Monday. It will be used primarily to test foreign travellers who are placed in institutional quarantine. RT-PCR that is currently the gold standard frontline test for Covid19 diagnosis will continue, she said, adding four other medical colleges in the district are expected to get their laboratories up and running as directed by the minister for medical education soon.