HYDERABAD: An increase in average time of hospitalisation is being seen in the current wave of
Covid-19 infections. While earlier moderate cases needed about seven to 10 days of hospitalisation, now it is taking up to 15 days, say experts.
Experts point out that several
mutations of the virus are to blame for it. “Infectivity has been particularly high during the second wave due to mutations to the virus, right from UK variant to Brazil variant and double mutations to the existing variant here. As a result we are seeing
whole families getting infected and being hospitalised. With more severity, the time spent in ICU automatically goes up,” said Dr P Raghuram, public health expert and director Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast diseases.
Dr Vijay Kumar Chennamshetty, consultant interventional pulmonologist,
Apollo Hospitals,
Jubilee Hills, also said, “The new strain with double mutant and triple mutant, is causing very intense inflammatory response and resulting in early deterioration of patients’ condition.” In addition, he said, “complacency is making them reach out to hospitals at a late stage, resulting in longer stays than expected.”
Not just time spent in hospitals, but also time spent in intensive care units (ICUs) and on ventilators has increased as more patients land in advanced stage of the disease. With this, the issue of huge hospital bills has come back to haunt patients’ families. In one incident, a middle-aged patient who was admitted at a corporate hospital for just four hours had a bill of Rs 64,000. A complaint was lodged with the state health department.
“The newer strains are also resulting in a lot of false negatives. Once the patient gets a negative, he or she starts taking things easy,” said Dr M Karuna, an expert on public health. The fact that younger patients experience symptoms very late is adding to the problem.
Experts point out people below 40 years experience almost no symptoms even at oxygen saturation level of 80 and then suddenly deteriorate. In one such instance recorded at a private hospital, a 35-year-old patient who experienced breathlessness when the saturation fell to 78 was rushed to the hospital and succumbed within 24 hours due to extensive damage to the lungs.