LUCKNOW: Hospitalisation and severity of infection among patients in the ongoing third wave of Covid-19 pandemic has been much less so far in comparison to the second wave that ravaged the city in April-May last year, reveals analyses of 500 active cases.
However, the rate of transmission this time is almost at par with the second wave.
"Hospitalisation among Covid-19 patients in the third wave might be low at this point of time, but healthcare facilities will be overwhelmed if the sharp rise in the transmission rate continues for a month. Such a situation will not only cause physical and financial sufferings to the families of those getting infected, but also hit the economy hard, impacting the entire population. We can avoid this simply by wearing masks, maintaining social distance and hand hygiene.-TimesView"
According to district health department data, the number of patients with active infection status in the state capital crossed 500-mark by Tuesday night. All these patients have been reported in the past two weeks. Of these, only 15 patients are under treatment in various hospitals. This means, three patients per 100 infections required hospitalisation.
Further, none of the patients in the hospitals have severe infection. While nine are admitted only for isolation, six were diagnosed with the Covid-19 accidentally when they came to hospitals for treatment of some other disease.
The number of active cases increased by Wednesday evening, but the trend remained the same.
In comparison, the rate of hospitalisation in the first two weeks of the second wave was five per 100 persons. Severity was also high with 10% cases admitted to High Dependency Units or Intensive Care Units. However, health officials and doctors have urged people to follow Covid-19 protocols strictly because even though there are no severe cases so far in the third wave, there is no guarantee that a similar trend will continue as the virus impacts differently in different persons depending on the immune response. Also, still there is not enough data to find out what would be the post-Covid complications.
Medical superintendent King George’s Medical University and in charge Covid facility, Prof D Himanshu said, “At present, those admitted have very mild symptoms like that of flu. Most of them are recuperating well on symptomatic treatment. But still, precaution is must because persons with comorbidity and elderly could develop severe symptoms.”
Former head microbiology department IMS BHU, Prof Anil Kumar Gulati thinks that vaccination is playing a vital part in less hospitalisation.
“Most of the population is covered with at least one vaccine shot. This means they have some immunity against the virus. So obviously, there will be less seriousness (pathogenicity) but we should understand that if Covid protocols are not followed, it might provide a conducive environment for birth of a new variant,” he added.
He also explained that as the virus goes from one host to another, it tries to adapt to fight antibodies and often this adaptation process gives birth to another variant, hence it is good that people don't get infected and don't become the new host.
Chief medical officer Dr Manoj Agrwal said, “Most of the people found positive are asymptomatic. It makes Covid restrictions more important because they can spread infection unknowingly. We are taking all the measures like extensive testing, contact tracing and isolation but the public must wear masks, use hand sanitizer and follow social distancing.”
