THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The health consciousness of people, considered to be a reflection of the economic and literacy standard of the state, has taken a beating during the second wave of Covid as fewer people are visiting hospitals for treating non-Covid ailments.
The fear of contracting the virus infection from the hospital has proved costly for some people, when untreated diseases became complicated or even fatal. According to doctors, patients with heart, kidney ailments and diabetes are the worst affected. The trend, that became apparent during the second wave compared to the first wave, has raised concern about the disease burden of the state.
Government hospitals have shifted their focus on Covid patients while major private hospitals also opened Covid care centres, dissuading non-Covid patients from hospital visits. But health experts say that the increase in the death toll during the second wave has also created panic among the public, especially among the elderly.
“We keep saying among friends that once you go to the hospital, you will return as a dead body packed in a plastic cover, straight to the crematorium. Though it is said half in jest, people are stressed. Nowadays, even a cough is suppressed, fearing that my family members would take me to the hospital,” said 75-year-old K Rajan Babu.
Health experts said financial difficulties induced by the pandemic also played a major role in prompting people not to spend much on health care. The delay in taking an expert consultation means chronic patients continue to take the same medicine for long, taking the wrong medicine or stop taking medicines without any consultation.
Health experts also warn of serious repercussions owing to this. “People are ready to wait till the pandemic subsides to visit hospitals. There are blood pressure and diabetic patients who think they can skip medicines and control the disease by regulating salt or sugar intake.
As a result, the condition of many patients deteriorated during the pandemic. In the case of heart patients, the delay in getting timely treatment sometimes even result in severe damage to heart muscles,” said Dr Harikrishnan S, principal investigator of the Centre of Excellence in Heart Failure and professor of cardiology at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology.
According to him, there are blood pressure patients who require drug optimisation every two months. Chances of heart attack increase when medicines of blood pressure are not taken regularly, he said.