HYDERABAD: In the preliminary period of the Covid-19 pandemic, patients infected with the disease in Telangana died younger and earlier, as compared to patients in other parts of the world. According to a retrospective study of 201 Covid deaths that occurred in Gandhi Hospital in the period March-June, the average age of Covid patients who died was 56.7 years - much lower than the mean age in other countries including China and Europe, where average age was above 65 years. Also, the average number of days from the onset of illness to death was observed to be 6.5 days by Gandhi Hospital researchers - which is much lower than that of other countries, where it was between 18.5 - 28 days.
Speaking to Express, a doctor who was part of the study said, “The shorter number of days to death from the onset of illness was most probably due to late diagnosis. During that period, there was less awareness among people regarding symptoms and testing was also less. People would turn up in hospitals in the end stages of the infection.” In the period March-June, Telangana was conducting one of the lowest number of tests in the country.
Hypertension and diabetes common risk factors
Around 61 per cent of patients who died at Gandhi Hospital between March and June had hypertension, and 48 per cent suffered from diabetes - highlighting the serious risk faced by people who do not maintain their blood pressure and sugar levels. Also, around 16 per cent of patients who died suffered from chronic kidney disorders, and 14 per cent had coronary artery disease. Among the symptoms, 87 per cent of those who died had suffered dyspnea (breathing difficulty) and 63 per cent had fever.