Kannur man landed in Kerala in a serious condition, died in a day

The Kannur native, who landed at Kochi airport on Thursday morning with symptoms such as breathlessness, tiredness and cough, was taken to the hospital.
For representational purposes
For representational purposes

KOCHI: The 36-year-old man, who died on Saturday morning while under observation for suspected coronavirus infection, had arrived from Malaysia with a life-threatening condition, doctors have said. 

The Kannur native, who landed at Kochi airport on Thursday morning with symptoms such as breathlessness, tiredness and cough, was taken to the Government Medical College Hospital(GMC), Kalamassery at around 1am and kept in the isolation ward.

Tests on his blood samples revealed that he was suffering from ketoacidosis, a life-threatening problem that affects people with high diabetes. His condition worsened and he died early Saturday morning, within 24 hours after being hospitalized. 

“The sugar level in his blood was very high, and what worsened his condition was that he was suffering from pneumonia, which was the cause of his acute breathlessness. He had arrived from Malaysia itself with these conditions and it worsened while reaching the hospital,” said Dr Peter P Vazhayil, superintendent of Government Medical College, Kalamassery. Ketoacidosis occurs when the body starts breaking down fat at a rate that is much too fast. The liver processes the fat into a fuel called ketones, which causes the blood to become acidic. 

The man has been working in Malaysia, where he has been working for over two years.According to the doctors, since the man arrived from COVID-19-affected areas and he showed symptoms of the virus, his blood samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Alappuzha.

The results of the first sample were negative for coronavirus. “As of now, we have no confirmation on COVID-19 virus and we are waiting for the final confirmation from Pune. The matter regarding cremation will be decided only after the result from Pune,” said Dr N K Kuttappan, District Medical Officer, Ernakulam. According to a source, the man had been suffering from fever over a week in Malaysia and he was planning to get treated in Kerala.

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