Causes and Risk Factors of COVID-19

How To Prevent Covid-19 Infection Vaccines are our best defense against the virus. However, we must continue to practise proper hygiene measures to prevent getting the infection. These include: Washing hands with soap and water frequently through the day. Use hand sanitiser if soap is not available. Wearing a mask that covers the nose and mouth when going out of the house. For detailed guidelines on how to use a mask, please click here. Practice social distancing. Avoid touching of face. Avoid…

Treatment of patient with Covid-19  First steps after detection of a positive patient includes: Isolation for the patient who has tested positive Quarantine for suspected cases As of now, there is no specific treatment for this infection. Most people report a mild or asymptomatic infection and require no specific treatment.  For moderate or severely affected persons, hospitalisation is mandated. Treatment is supportive and ventilation for the critically ill patients. Various drugs…

COVID-19 Tests and diagnosis There are various types of tests available for detection of Covid-19: RT-PCR (Reverse Polymerase chain reaction) is the gold standard used for diagnosis of individuals. A nasal or throat swab is taken and put in a machine that amplifies and detects the virus. Antigen tests are used for quick diagnosis at home. As per the kit instruction, people can use the swab to first swipe their throat and then the nose. It detects the spike protein on the coronavirus.  It…

COVID-19 is an infectious disease causes by a virus called Sars Cov-2. SARS-CoV-2 is a member of the Betacoronavirus genus, one of the genera of the Coronaviridae family of viruse from the Coronavirus family. This a zoonotic virus meaning it is transmitted from animals to humans; transmission now is mainly inter-human.

What is Covid-19 COVID-19 is a newly found virus first discovered in the Wuhan district of China. It went on to spread across the world and on March 11th, 2020 the World Health Organisation declared it a global pandemic. The virus affects the respiratory tract and is very contagious. It is one of the 7 types of coronavirus including MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

A father who was himself Covid-19 positive, talks about his 12 year old son's neurological symptoms like headaches, eye aches and surprising falls which were eventually diagnosed as Covid-19 and their journey to recovery.   I work for the Navy and was scheduled to go visit a ship docked in Mumbai. The new pandemic regulations required that I take a COVID test as a prerequisite. Surprisingly, the test came back positive. This was on 7th July and I went into home quarantine for 17 days…

Dr Keerthana Rajkumar, a young doctor from CMC Vellore, recounts how her personal experience as a patient with Coronavirus changed her perspective on healthcare and fundamentally transformed the way she practices medicine. It was 2 pm on a hot and humid afternoon in Vellore. I was slightly late for my shift at Christian Medical College (CMC). It was the first day of my medical training. Hustling through the hospital corridors, suddenly I felt uneasy. In my head I was going over the sequence in…

Parmeet Kaur Soni, Consultant, Clinical Psychologist, Mental Health Foundation, Kolkata, talks about how family members can support their children, when a family member or a close relative is diagnosed as Covid positive. We are increasingly hearing of children of all ages becoming increasingly anxious and even clingy when a family member is affected. We spoke to Parmeet Kaur Soni, a clinical psychologist on how families can navigate these difficult pandemic times.  The following steps…

As more and more people get infected with the coronavirus and are asked to home isolate, it is often unclear as to how one should go about it and when to seek medical help. Dr Anita Kumar talks about home quarantine guidelines during the current Covid pandemic. While the guidelines are vastly the same for the country, the methodology of application may vary and hence the doctor’s advice needs to be tailored to your situation. What does home quarantine for a COVID patient entail? Who is eligible…

Dr Ankit Jitani and Dr Ekta Jajodia from Ahmedabad, who had to reconcile to a small temple wedding during lockdown, were struck by covid-19, recovered and are back on duty helping other patients. They also describe their experience of donating plasma. Read on:  Ekta and I had been in a long-distance relationship for over two years. I was a Clinical Hematology post-doctoral trainee at NRS Medical College, Kolkata, while Ekta, now my wife, was pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship programme in…