BENGALURU: Even as the state’s death toll continues to rise, with those above 60 succumbing to the coronavirus, the news of a 99-year-old Covid-positive woman being cured and discharged on Friday has come as a ray of hope for the elderly. Dr Asima Banu, Nodal Officer of Trauma and Emergency Care Centre, Victoria Hospital, said, “She was admitted last week and is the oldest patient to have recovered from the virus in our hospital.
She was asymptomatic but had old age-related comorbidities, such as hypertension. She contracted the virus from her family members, who had tested positive.”She was admitted with symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness and was treated with the usual medicines administered to Covid patients, after which she tested negative on the repeat test.
This case is an example that old age need not be a reason for Covid-19 death and that there is hope for the vulnerable category of senior citizens. Dr K V Trilok Chandra, a special officer for high-risk Covid-19 cases, said that what worked in favour of the patient, despite suffering from hypertension, was that she reported early. “From the very beginning, she was asymptomatic and was treated aggressively. We have had many high-risk cases who have been discharged. Of over 3,000 such cases, around 1,300 have been discharged,” he said.
“Casualties have been in instances where high-risk cases reported late, had uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, or they went to other hospitals first and reported to the government later. Here, the woman had come to Victoria directly to get admitted.”