World-renowned infectious disease expert Dr Rajendra Kapila dies at 81 of Covid-19

Dr Rajendra Kapila, a world-renowned infectious disease expert, succumbed to the coronavirus in New Delhi on April 28, it has emerged. The Rutgers University professor, known for his extensive works on HIV-AIDS, was 81 years of age, reported the Hindustan Times.

Dr Kapila and his wife Dr Deepti Saxena Kapila had got both the doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the US. The couple had returned to India in March and stayed in Ghaziabad. He was supposed to return to the US in the second week of April but had to be hospitalised in Delhi after testing positive for Covid. 

“For the last one year I have been working at a Covid-19 lab in New Jersey and had ensured a safe environment at home. It is ironic that we came to India for two weeks and he contracted it here,” Dr Deepti, who specialises in microbiology, was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.

After completing his MBBS from Maulana Azad Medical College, University of Delhi, Dr Kapila pursued his MD from College of Medical Sciences, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in 1964.

His profile available on the Rutgers University website mentions that Dr Kapila was an intern, resident and fellow at the Martland Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. He was also the assistant chief of medicine for the US Army in Okinawa, Japan, during the Vietnam conflict and a founding member of the New Jersey Infectious Disease Society.

Dr Kapila, who trained many people in the field of HIV-AIDS and practised at the Rutgers University for 50 years, was bestowed with the Excellence in Teaching Award from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Many famous Indian doctors, who were trained by him, too remembered him with great fondness.