Critically ill 112kg unvaxxed youth recovers from Covid

Nagpur: An 18-year-old unvaccinated boy, weighing 112kg, has recovered from Covid after he was admitted to a private hospital in a critical condition.
The patient told doctors that he turned 18 on November 20 and so couldn’t take the vaccine. He had travelled to Kolkata and became symptomatic on his return.
On December 1, he was admitted to Orange City Hospital & Research India with complaints of fever and cough for a week and difficulty in breathing since day one of infection. His oxygen saturation level (SPO2) too had dropped to 85%.
These symptoms, predominantly seen during the second wave in most mild to critical patients, are now rarely seen among Covid positive patients, especially those who are partially or fully vaccinated.
The youth’s Covid report was found positive on December 2 morning. “He was put on non-invasive ventilator for six days. Timely treatment helped him recover fast. He is off oxygen support for the last 24 hours and is likely to be discharged by Monday. He is maintaining 98% O2 level without any support,” said chest physician Dr Sushant Muley who led the clinical team.
The patient’s CT severity score was 15/25 beside high D-Dimer. “In view of hypoxia and non-maintaining of oxygen level with high concentration mask, he was put on non-invasive ventilator support. Looking at his investigations and condition, remdesivir and tocilizumab injections too were given to him,” Dr Muley said.
As per Dr Muley, treatment of the unvaccinated youngster was a challenge due to obesity, deranged blood parameters and severe chest infection at time of admission. “Yet, we managed to treat him successfully. Recent evidence has shown that obesity weakens the immune system and, therefore, making the host vulnerable to infectious diseases.”
Dr Milind Pande, pathologist, Dr Nishikant Lokhande, radiologist and their teams offered diagnostic support. Dr Muley was assisted by clinical assistants Dr Aves Hasan, Dr Kushal Narnawre, Dr Nilesh Pidhekar and Dr Akash Jaiswal. Nurses Sangeeta Ahirwar, Sheetal Chandekar and Shilpa took care of the patient.
Dr Muley said obesity has emerged as a strong risk factor for severe disease in the current pandemic. Several independent studies have demonstrated that obese subjects with Covid-19 have a higher risk of severe disease, hospitalization and increased probability of death.