CMAAO IMA HCFI CORONA MYTH BUSTER 12

CMAAO IMA HCFI CORONA MYTH BUSTER 12

Dr K K Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President CMAAO

COVID patients cannot get heart attacks

One Italian patient in Jaipur died after 14 days of heart attack.

JAMA detailed 21 patients from Washington state, 15 of whom needed mechanical ventilation. All 15 had acute respiratory distress syndrome, and eight developed severe ARDS by 72 hours. Vasopressors were used for 14 patients, though most patients did not present with evidence of shock, and seven patients developed cardiomyopathy. Mortality among this group was 67%, 24% remained critically ill and 9.5% were discharged from the ICU, as of March 17.

The virus can spread in non clusters

Although there are incidents of rampant spread, as happened on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, the coronavirus more often infects clusters of family members, friends and work colleagues as per Dr. David L. Heymann, chair of expert panel advising the World Health Organization on emergencies.

The lock down is not scientific

It is scientific. The virus would die out on every contaminated surface and, because almost everyone shows symptoms within two weeks, it would be evident who was infected. If we had enough tests for every person even the completely asymptomatic cases could be found and isolated. The crisis would be over.

Italy did everything they could do

No. Italy moved incrementally: Officials slowly and reluctantly closed restaurants, churches and museums, and banned weddings and funerals. 

COVID will spare countries with best healthcare structures

Three weeks after its first coronavirus infection was discovered, the New York City region reached an alarming milestone on Sunday: It now accounts for roughly 5 percent of the world’s confirmed cases, making it an epicenter of the pandemic and increasing pressure on officials to take more drastic measures.

Isolating in absence of any case in the city is not scientific

People tend to isolate and practice social distancing when they feel an imminent threat. But states without many confirmed infections should react as though the virus is already widespread — because it probably is.

The results of lock down are visible the next day

No, the cases we see today reflect transmission that has happened in the past. The result of lock down will be reduction of new cases after 5-7 days and reduction in new deaths after 14 days.

Social distancing can not be measured

To measure how social distancing has changed our behavior, analysts look at how far people travel each day using smartphone G.P.S. signals, calculating an average distance for each county and state.

On a normal day, people might commute for an hour to work or drive across town to drop their kids off at school. But after many lawmakers encouraged residents to stay put, closing workplaces and most schools in the process, the data shows travel swiftly declining in many counties.

In Italy very few doctors got infected

No. In Italy, 20 percent of health care workers have been infected.

Every body needs protection without priority

Firstly protection should be given to essential workers: first those in health care, and then pharmacists, police officers, firefighters and those who maintain public utilities and the supply of food. It should then be offered to everyone.