Taking moderate COVID-19 symptoms lightly could be fatal, finds study

Many who never went for testing are complaining of complications after recovering from virus
Workers wearing PPE take a break after cremating a person who succumbed to COVID-19, at Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)
Workers wearing PPE take a break after cremating a person who succumbed to COVID-19, at Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)

NEW DELHI:  High-Grade fever, severe body and muscle aches, stroke, leg thrombosis, lung fibrosis and cardiac involvement — these are the repercussions amongst patients with mild symptoms of coronavirus who refuse to get tested for the virus, found a study by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

Of late, the hospital has been receiving patients exhibiting serious medical conditions, mainly because of ignoring testing when the Covid-19 symptoms first appeared.

The clinical investigation of thirty such patients revealed that they never underwent the test to detect the virus despite developing mild symptoms of the disease thinking that the symptoms would go away on their own.

“However, these patients rushed to the hospital when their mild complications started progressing to moderate and major ones associated with the disease,” said Dr Atul Kakar, vice-chairperson, department of internal medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

“In the last month alone, we have treated close to 30 patients of Covid induced moderate to major complications with no history of testing. Covid antibody tests in all these patients were found to be positive. These patients came with issues related to various organs such as their lungs, nervous system, heart and blood vessels.”

“Many patients who had lung-related issues required oxygen supplementation and a few special medications,” Dr Kakar added.

As per the doctors, such patients could have averted severe stage of the illness if they had opted for early testing and treatment of the disease.

“People with any of the mild symptoms of Covid- 19 should not make the mistake of taking it lightly. They should get tested immediately and should be under medical supervision. Any persistence or deterioration should be reported on an urgent basis,” the doctor cautioned.

“While Covid-19 remains a self-limiting disease in the majority of cases, testing and supervision remains essential in all kinds of patients, especially the elderly, those who are immune-compromised or have underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, cancers, lung or kidney diseases. It affects different people in different ways. Most infected people though will develop mild illness and with supervision recover in self-isolation,” he added.

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