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The Wire
2 days ago
- Health
- The Wire
With Limited Research and Understanding, Doctors Struggle to Treat Long Covid Patients
Banjot Kaur 2 minutes ago Several Long Covid patients say their problems have been ignored completely by clinicians. But even sympathetic doctors say the path forward is unclear. here. New Delhi: As we mark five years of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 'Long Covid' remains the most challenging issue to deal with. Though our understanding of the Sars-Cov-2 virus has evolved quite a bit by this time, the phenomenon of Long Covid remains an enigma, by and large. Dr Ameet Dravid is an infectious diseases expert who practices in Pune. He has been treating Long Covid patients ever since the first wave of the pandemic started in 2020. Dr Dhruva Chaudhry is the head of the pulmonary and critical care department at Pt BDS Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak. Like Dravid, he, too, has been working with Long Covid patients. Working in two different parts of India, unknown to and independent of each other, both are grappling with one common question: Has Sars-Cov-2 fundamentally changed anything in our bodies, especially in our immune systems? Speaking to The Wire, both these clinicians said that they are launching studies with the help of other institutions to try and answer this question. Chaudhry said he was in touch with a renowned private university in Delhi-NCR to investigate whether something has "gone wrong with the functioning of our T-cells and B-cells that form our immunity'. These are the cells which are main components of the human immune system and allow it to do what it does. Dravid is working with the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV). 'We want to check the blood samples of those who tell us that their capacity to carry out daily deeds has dramatically gone down which has seriously affected their lives [with those who haven't reported this problem]. And we want to know whether their B cells, their T cells, their antibodies, their gut bacteria, their nose viruses — whether they are any different from others. So we are in the process of doing a biorepository,' he said. Dravid says the initial tests are already providing some hints. The T cells are in smaller numbers than those who don't suffer from Long Covid Issues. In simple terms, if these 'very initial results' hold true, it would mean the long haulers have weakened immune systems now. This, in turn, may explain a number of problems these people are grappling with – from heart issues to gut diseases and many more in between. Dravid says the remnants of the dead virus have remained inside the bodies of those suffering from Long Covid for quite some time, even after they got a Covid-negative test report. Dr B.V. Murali Mohan, a pulmonologist who headed a Long Covid clinic in a private Bengaluru hospital, shares this opinion. Since the remnants of the virus were dead, they did not make the patient sick, per se. But they remained inside the body, and therefore kept triggering the immune system to mount a battle despite them being dead, simply because they are foreign elements. This, according to Dravid, might have resulted in the exhaustion of immunity – known as immunosense. Due to this exhaustion, the system could not adequately do its job when a new infection happened, thus making long haulers more sick. Range of diseases Long Covid is an umbrella term for a host of medical conditions. According to World Health Organisation's definition of Long Covid: 'Post COVID-19 condition occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARSCoV-2 infection, usually 3 months from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms that last for at least 2 months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.' According to the WHO, 6% of all COVID-19 patients suffer from Long Covid. In absolute numbers, this can be extremely high. The US-CDC estimated this number to be 6.9% in 2022 in the country. In India, an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study published in 2023 reported 6.6-11.9% prevalence of three specific Long Covid conditions – fatigue, dyspnoea (breathing difficulty) and mental health. The Wire wrote an email to ICMR on March 24 asking if it has conducted a study to know the broader prevalence rate in India, after this one. The ICMR did not reply despite repeated reminders. In the first part of this series, The Wire spoke to people suffering from Long Covid about their symptoms and difficulties. Doctors The Wire spoke to also listed a range of issues – most of them overlapping with what the patients had said. Murali Mohan of Bengaluru Hospital found most Long Covid patients to be recovering in the long term, but Pune's Dravid said many of his patients are suffering even now. All the doctors that The Wire spoke to made it clear that five years down the line, the number of new Long Covid patients has declined dramatically. According to the World Health Organisation, Long Covid conditions can develop a maximum of three months after infection. Like all other viruses, Sars-Cov-2 is still around, but with its intensity significantly reduced. People are still getting COVID-19 – and so the possibility of Long Covid in new patients isn't zero just yet. One of the most common issues is cognitive decline, commonly known as 'brain fog'. 'Professors have come up to me saying they frequently lose their train of thought during lectures,' Dravid said. Murali Mohan has had some patients who still haven't recovered from cognitive decline. There is no consensus on the pathway of virus causing brain fog. Dr Chaudhry believes that if a virus entered the bloodstream via the lungs, it could have breached the barrier between blood and brain in some cases. The virus could have also impacted the nervous system, known scientifically as 'micro-neural damage', thus affecting the brain. He said that some of the damage in the brain is also reflected in MRIs and other scans. One of the triggers that led doctors to ask for these scans was loss of sense of smell. The virus, according to studies like this, can negatively impact the olfactory bulb – the part of the brain which is responsible for activating the sense of smell. So once a patient reported loss of smell, doctors asked for brain scans. These scans showed that some parts of the brain were affected. Whenever an infection takes place, the immune system mounts a response. At times, it goes into overdrive and affects otherwise healthy organs of the body, by mistake. The diseases caused by this act are called autoimmune diseases. Long Covid patients have reported neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis. It is an autoimmune disorder in which the spinal cord and the nerves in the brain suffer abnormalities. Chaudhry is also particularly worried about the long persistence of pneumonia in Long Covid patients or even those who don't fit under this broad umbrella term. 'In my 30 years of practice, I have never seen this big a number of patients suffering from pneumonia,' he said. Murali Mohan says interstitial lung disease, a long-term ailment which "cripples the lives of people", is something he has commonly observed after the pandemic. Past experience suggests that some viruses have also triggered this disease, and therefore, Sars-Cov-2 doing the same shouldn't surprise clinicians. 'The autoimmune phenomenon can impact the brain, the nervous system, the lungs and so on,' Murali Mohan said. The gut, which holds the key to many digestion-related functions, also seems to get affected because of the COVID-19 virus. The good bacteria in the gut does not let toxins enter the bloodstream. With the gut suffering, its 'gatekeeper' role goes for a toss. Consequently, the body's internal systems are exposed to a whole range of toxins, which can cause a number of diseases. Some Long Covid patients come to Dravid with psychiatric problems like nervousness, hopelessness and excess anxiety. 'Family members say their patient was such a calm person before COVID. Now s/he is like a cat on a hot tin roof — completely anxious, keeps shouting at us for simple things.' Apart from the issues mentioned, all these doctors spoke of seeing patients with the most common Long Covid problems like an increased heart rate, chronic fatigue, chest pain, breathlessness, palpitations, etc. which substantially affect the quality of life. Matters of the heart A group of problems related to the heart have been a key issue for Long Covid patients. The American Heart Association says the risk of heart attack and strokes following a COVID-19 infection remains increased at least up to three years later in adults. Even children's and adolescents' hearts can be adversely affected, says this study published on April 11, 2025. Dr K. Srinath Reddy, former head of the Public Health Foundation of India and former head of AIIMS' cardiology department, says COVID-19 infection can wreak havoc on the heart in multiple ways. One among them is inflammation. As a result of any infection, when the immune system rushes to do its job, it leads to inflammation. In most cases this inflammation subsides on its own, but in some it does not. This is true for infections with various pathogens; Sars-Cov-2 is no exception. Inflammation can damage the inner lining of blood vessels. Veins transport blood from the heart to different organs and arteries do the reverse. They are both vessels, and if vessels are affected, clotting, also known as thrombosis, takes place. This causes heart attacks. The second pathway to heart attack due to COVID-19 could be the autoimmune. As explained above, an autoimmune scenario destroys healthy organs of the body, in some cases the heart and blood vessels.. Deranged lipid profile (three types of cholesterol indicators and triglycerides) and abnormal sugar levels can also affect blood vessels adversely. High blood sugar is a noted post-Covid complication. Reddy says a combination of all these pathways can lead to heart attacks. To know the exact pathway, more research is needed. Link with Covid One of the biggest challenges is to establish that the patients developed these conditions because of COVID-19 and hence can be treated under the Long Covid umbrella. Doctors like Murali Mohan believe that patients may have developed some of these problems anyway, with or without Covid. The other possibility is that they existed before COVID-19 infection, in a latent manner. The infection worsened the symptoms, leading to their full-fledged manifestation. The third possibility is that the COVID-19 virus itself caused these problems. There are several reasons why a direct link is difficult to establish. One is that most investigations, including scans and bloodwork for testing biomarkers, show nothing wrong with the body. Biomarkers are molecules in the blood – if their levels are outside of the normal range, it shows that the body isn't functioning normally. But Long Covid patients, as all of those who spoke to The Wire said, continue to suffer – despite their 'clean' test results. Dravid says physicians need to think out of the box. The CD4 count is a biomarker that marks the status of immunity, especially for HIV patients as their immune system is heavily compromised. There are indications now to suggest that COVID-19 may have altered immune systems to a greater extent. Dravid says if the count is tested for Long Covid patients, and it turns out to be low, then it may give an understanding of an underfunctioning immune system. That itself can be a clue to many of the conditions that Long Covid patients grapple with. 'If patients are coming with allergies following a COVID-19 infection, how about checking the IgG, IgA, IgM levels — that is, immunoglobulin levels — which we otherwise use to check for allergy patients. This is something that many of us may not be doing now for Long Covid patients,' he said. 'Maybe biomarkers for Long Covid conditions are different, which we have not been able to find out yet. We are only trying to test those biomarkers which are commonly associated with a particular disease,' he said. The medical community worldwide is grappling to fill the gaps of biomarkers. This study, a 'global expert consensus' published on April 20, 2025, lists a whole range of biomarkers that doctors must look into for Long Covid patients. It indicates investigations for every system of the body. The other difficulty is to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between these conditions and COVID-19 infection. Because the pathway isn't usually clear, doctors are hesitant to come to such conclusions. Sometimes, doctors have found that nutrient deficiency also causes similar conditions – thus delinking 'Long Covid' symptoms from a COVID-19 infection. 'The significant deficiency of Vitamin D as well as Vitamin B12 can have specific and nonspecific effects causing a number of diseases,' Chaudhry said. These deficiencies are examples of the 'confounders' which render doctors unsure what caused the diseases – Long Covid or other reasons. Confounders are findings that may not align with the conclusions one would normally have drawn. Delhi-based Dr Hitakshi Sharma, a community medicine specialist, stresses on checking minerals levels to rule out their deficiency, because that can also lead to some of these conditions. Despite the existence of these confounders, Sars-Cov-2 is not an anomaly as far as post viral and bacterial illness are concerned. Other viruses too have been known to cause complications when patients have recovered from infections caused by them. Long-term joint and muscle pain in patients post a chikungunya infection is a common occurrence. Even after fully recovering from a tuberculosis infection, some people continue to have impaired lung functioning. Ditto for swine flu. Doctors say since COVID-19 affected so many patients in a span of just a few years, they see more patients suffering with post-viral illness and the word 'long' got prefixed to these diseases – which is not the case with other infections. Clinicians' dilemma With these uncertainties, doctors are hesitant on two counts as far as Long Covid patients are concerned. First, they aren't sure if all the problems that Long Covid patients face indeed happened following a Covid infection, and so, how to treat the issues. Second, and more importantly, investigations don't reveal anything for a lot of these patients, and so doctors end up rejecting the possibility that illness exists. 'I agree it is very difficult to decide whether COVID-19 is the cause or something else is. But if the patient is saying there is a temporal association with COVID-19, we should give those symptoms credence – at least hear them out – and not just dismiss their conditions,' Dravid said. Murali Mohan says doctors are being 'close-minded' when they refuse to recognise Long Covid patients' symptoms just because they can't see anything obviously wrong. "The most hurtful thing for any patient is rejection with contempt,' he said. Both Dravid and Murali Mohan stressed on doctors giving adequate time to Long Covid patients in their OPDs. They said that these patients may need to be heard for half an hour or even more to understand what they are saying. This is made even more important by the fact that investigations don't always reveal the issue. Asking the right questions and taking down a detailed history is vital for these patients, they believe. "Look at their physical issues. Rule out any underlying cause [which could have been present before COVID-19 infection]...that can be the first step,' Murali Mohan advises. It is definitely a difficult thing to do, though, he said. Dravid came across Long Covid patients who had already seen multiple consultants before visiting him. They were, therefore, exhausted by repeating their history again and again. 'That is when we doctors need to be sympathetic,' he said. This Pune-based physician added that it is impossible to quantify many of their conditions, say fatigue, cognitive decline or breathlessness. The absence of quantification makes clinicians sceptical about the problems of Long Covid patients. The road ahead When doctors themselves have not yet understood Long Covid and the issues it presents, treatment protocol becomes complicated. For example, autoimmune diseases, in general, are treated with steroids. However, when the autoimmune pathways to Long Covid conditions are not undeniably proven, it is difficult for doctors to prescribe steroids to patients, says Murali Mohan. Dravid says occupational therapy could be a graded way to help Long Covid patients suffering from chronic fatigue. 'And, then of course, psychological support to them can go a long way in helping them,' he said. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach that includes the services of a rheumatologist (for autoimmune conditions), immunologist, physical medicine specialist, cardiologist and physiotherapist can be the key, he feels. A Long Covid patient The Wire spoke to said she received such a treatment when she was in the US. But the road ahead can be bumpy for Long Covid patients despite the best of intentions of a section of doctors. They say while these patients can recover to some extent, their quality of life may not recover to levels they were at before. Dravid, though, adds a rider to this thought: ongoing research on Long Covid may potentially throw up solutions that could reverse the problem completely. Until then, a sympathetic clinician could help manage the symptoms. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Hindustan Times
16-06-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
No need to panic: Experts as Covid deaths cross 100
With 11 new deaths reported in the past 24 hours, the total number of Covid-19 deaths in the current surge reached 108 on Monday, government data show, although experts insist that there is no need to panic, pointing to the fact that the proportion of fatalities among those testing positive for the respiratory viral infection is under 1% (0.79%). Also Read: IISER scientists pioneer affordable RNA sensors for fast detection of Covid-19, Zika They add that almost all of the deaths are in hospitalised patients who were either undergoing treatment for, or had a past history of, severe comorbidities. The 11 new deaths, for example, includes patients who suffered from a range of medical conditions including lung cancer, acute kidney injury, leukaemia, and cirrhosis of the liver. 'The number of cases may have seen a slight surge in the past few weeks, but we are keeping an eye on the rate of hospitalisation and death, which is low across the country. Most of the deaths are in people who were hospitalised for some chronic or acute condition that may not be directly related to Covid-19, but as a protocol gets documented as Covid death,' said a senior government official, requesting anonymity. Also Read: COVID spiking again: Top 6 nutrients you need to include in your diet for better immunity According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a Covid-19 associated hospitalisation is defined as admission as an inpatient for a length of over 12 hours of time, or overnight for the reasons directly related to Covid-19. In addition, a Covid-19 death is defined for surveillance purposes as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness in a probable or confirmed Covid-19 case unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to Covid-19 disease (e.g. trauma). There should be no period of complete recovery between illness and death. Also Read: New Covid-19 clusters in urban India raise alarms: Doctor reveals 7 categories of people at higher coronavirus risk 'The government is closely monitoring the situation, and so far, there is nothing to be alarmed about. However, one needs to be vigilant and follow the dos and don'ts issued as a measure of abundant precaution especially for the high-risk population,' added the official. According to government data, since January 1, 2025, 13,604 Covid-19 positive cases have been reported from across the country and 108 deaths. Currently, there are 7264 active cases in India, and according to the official cited above, most of these are mild and under home care. While INSACOG (Indian Sars-Cov-2 Genomics Consortium) that is mandated to issue a weekly bulletin on circulating variants of Sars-Cov-2— the virus that causes Covid-19— has not updated the bulletin since May 15 on its website, people familiar with the matter said the variant largely in circulation currently remains NB.1.8.1. NB.1.8.1, also known as Nimbus, first detected in a sample collected on January 22, 2025, is a descendant of the XDV.1.5.1 lineage, which itself descended from JN.1, a lineage of the Omicron variant BA.2.86. The variant carries six additional spike mutations that could affect its behaviour. Notably, mutations at position 445 may enhance binding to the hACE2 receptor, potentially increasing transmissibility. Meanwhile, changes at positions 435 and 478 could help the variant evade certain has labelled it as a variant under monitoring and assessed its global health risk as low, despite rising cases in several countries. While there is slight advantage in immune evasion, but the current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation, it noted. In its epidemiological update on the variant, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said, 'While there are no epidemiological studies assessing transmissibility of NB.1.8.1 relative to other circulating strains, a very limited number of available laboratory studies are informative, with two studies assessing in vitro infectivity showing lower infectivity of NB.1.8.1 versus LP.8.1 and XEC, previously dominant Omicron variants…' Like in other countries, in India also NB.1.8.1 has shown increased prevalence since mid-April. Along with it, the other variants in circulation are LF.7, and XFG that are all descendants of the Omicron variant. According to WHO, currently approved Covid-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective to this variant against symptomatic and severe disease. However, there is still no decision made at the government level to introduce further booster doses. According to the official cited above, there may not be a decision taken any time soon on the vaccines given the low hospitalisation and death rate. 'It has been well-established that vaccines prevent severe disease and death, and the numbers clearly show there is no alarming increase in both. Therefore, no urgent requirement. That aside, it's a fluid situation and decisions may be taken or modified based on the situation later.'
The Wire
29-05-2025
- Health
- The Wire
‘Surge' in COVID-19 Cases in India: What We Know and Don't Know About Newer Strains
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Top Stories 'Surge' in COVID-19 Cases in India: What We Know and Don't Know About Newer Strains Banjot Kaur 42 minutes ago Current data is inadequate to draw a complete picture. Hyperbolic news coverage also hides key scientific details of the situation. A medic at a ward prepared for COVID-19 patients at Gandhi Hospital in the wake of several states reporting Covid cases, in Hyderabad, Saturday, May 24, 2025. Photo: PTI. Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now New Delhi: The 'surge' in COVID-19 cases has been making headlines in India for about a week now. What should one make of the term 'surge'? Is the rise in the number of cases cause for alarm? The prevailing notion that 'COVID-19 is back' does not pass scientific muster because like any other virus, Sars-Cov-2 (causing COVID-19), never went away. Like all other viruses, it has been circulating all this time and will continue to do so. No virus has been eliminated in human history except smallpox. The periodic rise in cases is also likely to happen because Sars-Cov-2 is a fast-mutating virus. These are the 'surges' that are leading to a misinformed claim that 'COVID-19 is back'. Current 'surge' According to the data made available by the Union health ministry's online dashboard, there are 1,010 active cases in India as of May 25. The highest number of active cases are in Kerala (430) followed by Maharashtra (210), Delhi (104) and Gujarat (76). One of the metrics to understand the numbers is to look at the baseline which reflect the weekly change in the number of cases. Compared with week starting May 19, the highest change in the number of cases has been in Kerala (95 cases more cases this week) and Maharashtra (56 more cases this week), In such a situation, governments can make additional preparations and ask hospitals to remain at stand by as a standard protocol. Why this data is not the real picture The official data has several riders which are often missed in the current discourse and in panicked messages widely circulated on various social media platforms. The most important among them is the positivity rate, i.e, number of tests returning positive out of every 100 tests conducted. This is important to rule out any testing bias. Usually, when talk around COVID-19 cases going up gains momentum, a higher number of people get tested for the virus. The higher the number of people being tested, the greater are our chances of detecting more cases. This is the case because in the absence of such talk, fewer people get tested, and therefore, the number of people being tested positive is also small. Therefore, it is pertinent to know the positivity rate. The health ministry website has no updated information on the positivity rate of the current strains. The fact that Kerala has the highest number of positive cases can, therefore, also be a function of more tests being conducted there. Virus surveillance The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) is responsible for conducting genomic surveillance and finding out the current status of the strains circulating. Some of the tests that return positive are further analysed to understand the most commonly circulating strain. According to the INSACOG dashboard updated till May 26, JN.1 is the most common circulating strain. Some cases of a new strain NB.1.8.1 have also been reported but are not reflected in the dashboard. However, the number of sequences uploaded on the INSACOG dashboard has been extremely low, starting this year, thus seriously limiting the Indian genome sequencing capacity and its surveillance efforts. It is through genome sequencing alone that one can understand the scale of the dominant strain at a given point in time. In fact, only five centres out of 64 have uploaded the results of sequencing that started in January this year. Two medical colleges of Rajasthan and Gujarat, each, and the country's apex body, the National Institute of Virology, have done so. Therefore, less-than-adequate genome sequencing can also present a picture which is incomplete. Even the last INSACOG bulletin, issued on May 15, acknowledges this. 'Since the testing and the sampling frequency is less for some parts of India, the overall scenario might not be clear yet,' it says. Many countries do wastewater surveillance also to study the true prevalence of any strain as it reveals viral load or fragments of virus in sewage. In India, only a few entities do this in their own capacities. There is no centralised data available on this as the Union government has not taken up wastewater surveillance, even at the start and peak of the pandemic. WHO's classification of JN.1 and NB.1.8.1 The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies new emerging strains under one of the three categories – variants under monitoring (VUM), variants of Interest (VoIs) and variants of Concern (VoCs). The least alarming are the ones classified as VuMs. If a strain is designated as VuM, it is a 'signal to health authorities that a new strain may require prioritised attention' over others. If a strain is classified as VoI, it indicates that it has the ability to spread faster than the previous cousins, cause a slightly more severe disease and 'suggests a potential emerging risk to global public health'. The strains classified as VoCs signal the highest degree of change. Such a strain may potentially overwhelm health systems across the world. A VoC can cause 'detrimental' change in disease severity, and cause significant immune evasion, that is, the circulating strain is successful in evading the immune system. Currently, the WHO has classified JN.1 as VoI. NB.1.8.1 has been characterised as VuM. All currently circulating strains are offshoots of the Omicron variant. Properties of NB.1.8.1 and JN.1 NB.1.8.1 has a greater ability than its previous cousins to bind to ACE2 receptors. The ACE2 receptors are present in cells of various body parts and they act as entry points for the COVID-19 virus into the body. The COVID-19 virus has what are known as 'spike proteins', or simply, spikes present on its outer surface. These spikes of the virus 'bind' with ACE2 receptors like lock and key to invade the body. Thus, the fact that NB.1.8.1 has a greater ability to bind with ACE2 receptors of the body indicates that it can easily gain entry into the body. This can increase the transmission potential of the virus – it can thus spread faster from one person to another. According to the latest WHO update, limited available evidence from different parts of the world indicates that this strain has led to an increase in hospitalisation numbers. However, these are early days for full evaluation of the NB.1.8.1. This is the case because the COVID-19 sequences global database, GISAID, has only 518 samples of this strain provided by 22 countries. This number is not enough to study its clinical outcomes in detail. 'The routine clinical surveillance data do not indicate any signs of increased severity associated with NB.1.8.1, compared to previously circulating strains,' says the WHO in its latest update. 'Currently there is no evidence of increases in indicators like COVID-19-related ICU admissions and deaths per hospitalisations, or all-cause mortality,' it adds. As far as JN.1 is concerned, which is currently the dominant strain in India, it has a growth advantage over previously circulating strains, as per the WHO. In other words, it can spread faster than other Omicron strains. However, the neutralisation capacity of the antibodies present in the immune system, i.e., their ability to neutralise or kill the virus is same for JN.1 as it is for other strains of the Omicron variant which had been circulating earlier. The WHO says the currently available evidence suggests that the additional health risk posed by JN.1 is low at the global level. The increase in hospitalisation numbers with JN.1 is unclear at the moment. There have been no reports of changes in disease severity with JN.1 as compared to other versions of the Omicron variant. According to this paper, JN.1 can cause fever, sore throat, excessive discharge of mucus from nose, nasal congestion, persistent dry cough, fatigue, headache, loss of taste, loss of smell, muscle pain, conjunctivitis, diarrhoea, and vomiting. 'Patients infected with the JN.1 strain may experience more severe muscle fatigue and exhaustion compared to typical COVID-19 cases,' it says. 'Mild symptoms can often be managed with symptomatic care and do not require immediate medical attention,' it adds. Patients who are immunocompromised – those whose immune systems are already compromised – due to certain illnesses are always at risk of developing a severe disease than others, be it any strain of the virus. Another risk associated with any variant of Sars-Cov-2 infection is Long COVID. While all the currently circulating strains are mostly known to cause a mild version of the disease, the risk of Long COVID is real and pertinent. WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, says, there is no substantial clarity as to how COVID-19 infections can impact our body in multiple ways even if one has got rid of the infection. 'Our concern is [that] in five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, what we are going to see in terms of cardiac impairment, of pulmonary impairment, of neurological impairment [caused due to long term impacts of new strains of the virus which would continue to emerge],' she says referring to Long COVID. § Although the fear of the 'unknowns' of this virus has subsided to a greater extent, not everything is known about the virus yet, as Kerkhove says. The best and the easiest way is, therefore, to take precautions which are not hard to follow. Vulnerable populations like elderly, people with comorbidities and compromised immune systems, especially need to take care. Insofar as the general population, following these precautions, like masking up in crowded places, can alway come handy to dodge the virus and its long term implications. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News The Small Peak in COVID-19 Cases in South East Asia Is No Cause For Panic COVID-19 Led to Decline in Life Expectancy in India, Reveal Three Analyses The Many Failures of Operation Sindoor We Must Assess Sudden Deaths Which Took Place as a Consequence of COVID-19 Undercounting of COVID Deaths: Two Million More People Died in 2021 Compared to 2020, Shows Govt Data ECI Tried to Address the Duplicate EPIC Problem 4 Years Ago. Why Does it Persist? 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Hindustan Times
27-05-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Covid cases no cause for alarm, but stay vigilant, says ICMR DG
There is no need to hit the panic button just yet on the rising cases of Covid in the country, director general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Rajiv Bahl said, explaining that the sub-variant in circulation is a descendant of the Omicron variant that Indians are already exposed to. Speaking to HT in an interview, he, however, stressed that there is a need to be vigilant. Edited excerpts: Is there a surge in Covid-19 cases? There is a slight increase. Until March, there were almost zero cases of Sars-Cov-2, all the respiratory illness cases were either influenza A or B or RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), and one or two cases of the human metapneumovirus. Since the end of April, we are seeing more cases of Sars-Cov-2. The virus is here, it's circulating. Where were the samples taken from? ICMR runs in 73 labs in medical colleges across the country. Samples are taken from both severe and non-severe patients of SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Infection) and ILI (Influenza-like Illnesses). We test for all the six-seven common viruses in every patient; so, it is not that we have suddenly started testing for Covid. How serious does the situation seem? There is no need to be alarmed... Only isolated mild cases have been reported so far. But should we be complacent? The answer is no. Should we be vigilant? The answer is yes. Are the current variants more virulent? At this moment, there is no evidence that any one of the circulating variants causes more severe disease than the previous variants. There is an evolution of variants across the world… it is a sub-variant of omicron that we have seen — the BA.2.86 that has a sub-variant called JN.1. What are the variants in circulation? There is JN.1, LF.7, XFG and NB.1.8.1. However, all these have evolved from the Omicron variant BA.2.86 (also known as pirola) either in pure or recombinant form. None of them, however, have been shown to be more severe than what we already know about Covid-19. Do we have enough vaccines to deal with the current variants? We do not make vaccine for every variant… We do have the ability to make a vaccine against a variant but we don't need to make a vaccine. The need of the vaccine is to prevent severe disease and death; we have never given vaccines to prevent mild Covid cases. If severe cases and death are not happening in large numbers, then we don't need to give vaccine. We are seeing about 1,000 cases currently, if this number increases then we will consider what is the best vaccine to give.
Indian Express
17-05-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Covid-19 surge in Hong Kong, Singapore: What's causing the spike?
Asian countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong have noted a surge in Covid-19 cases over the last few weeks. Health authorities in these countries have said that the increase may be because of waning population level immunity to the infection and fewer elderly getting their booster shots. 'There is no indication that the variants circulating locally are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to previously circulating variants,' said Singapore's ministry of health. What do the numbers say? Data from Singapore shows that the estimated number of Covid-19 cases in the week ending on May 3 went up to 14,200 from 11,100 a week before. The average daily hospitalisation due to Covid-19 during this period also increased from 102 to 133, but daily admissions to the ICU declined slightly from 3 to 2. The health authority added that LF.7 and NB.1.8 — both descendants of JN.1 variant that is used in new Covid-19 vaccines — were circulating in the country. These newer vaccines are unavailable in India. Hong Kong has seen an increase in Sars-CoV-2 viral load in sewage samples. It has also noted an increase in respiratory samples testing positive for Covid-19, increasing to 13.66 per cent in the week ending on May 10 as compared to 6.21 per cent four weeks ago. It has recorded 81 severe cases, with 30 deaths, almost all of which were in elderly people with underlying health conditions. Has Covid-19 become a seasonal infection? It is likely. Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) says, 'According to the surveillance data after the resumption of normalcy, there were two relatively active periods of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, which lasted for about 15 weeks from April to July 2023 and for about seven weeks from February to March last year. COVID-19 became more active in mid-April of this year (i.e. about four weeks ago).' Singapore's ministry of health says, 'As with other endemic respiratory diseases, periodic COVID-19 waves are expected throughout the year.' What about India? While not many are undergoing Covid-19 tests in India anymore, data collected from surveillance sites by ICMR laboratories show that there has been an increase in Covid-19 infections over the last few weeks — the number of Sars-Cov-2 positive samples increased to 41 during the week ending on May 11 as compared to 28 the week before, and 12 the week before that. However, the total number of respiratory infections has been on the decline since a surge in September last year. India typically witnesses two peaks of respiratory infections — one during the winter months and the second immediately after the monsoon. What should you do? There is no need to panic at the moment. However, if you do get a respiratory infection, stay at home so that you do not transmit it to others. Avoid closed or crowded spaces as much as possible. If you do have to step out, mask up. And, wash your hands as frequently as possible. These steps will keep you safe not just from Covid-19 but any other respiratory infection.
