News Analysis India

Tag: Covid-19 patients

  • Black fungus: Madhya Pradesh to conduct nasal endoscopy of COVID-19 patients 

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to launch the “nasal endoscopy” campaign in view of the rise in the cases of mucormycosis or black fungus in COVID-19 patients, state Medical Education Minister Vishvas Kailash Sarang said on Wednesday.

    This campaign is aimed at the early detection and treatment of mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection.

    “Given the rise in the cases of mucormycosis in COVID-19 patients, we have decided to launch the nasal endoscopy campaign for the early detection and treatment of the disease at the primary level only,” a public relations department official said quoting Sarang.

    He said the government will conduct the nasal endoscopy of COVID-19 patients as well as those COVID-19 survivors who are admitted in the district hospitals and the government medical colleges in the last two months for free.

    Nasal endoscopy is a procedure to look at the nasal and sinus passages using an endoscope.

    The stock of necessary equipment for conducting nasal endoscopy will be increased in the medical colleges, the official said.

    He said the Society of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists has also given its consent to conduct nasal endoscopy for free for the recovered patients for 15 days.

    A coordinator will be appointed by the ENT society to conduct nasal endoscopies in all the cities in Madhya Pradesh.

    “The case study of black fungus will also be done during this process to know whether the infection is prevalent in urban or rural areas,” he said.

    Instructions were also issued to the medical colleges to conduct nasal endoscopy of the willing patients and also set up separate operation theatres for COVID-19 and non-COVID 19 patients in their institutions, he said.

    Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has directed to set up a dedicated task force comprising the health minister, medical education minister, ENT experts, and additional chief secretaries/principal secretaries of the departments concerned for making arrangements for the treatment of black fungus.

    The CM also directed the task force to start functioning immediately, the official added.

    According to doctors, Mucormycosis is mostly found among COVID-19 patients who have diabetes.

    Its symptoms include headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion and partial loss of vision.

  • Some Covid-19 patients develop Guillain-Barre Syndrome, say doctors

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: Doctors are seeing a new addition to Covid-19 complications – the Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a rare disease where the immune system attacks the nerves. Any viral infection triggers an immune response in the body, and if that response is in excess, then it damages nerve fibres. In such instances, patients become paralyzed, they may sometimes encounter difficulty in swallowing or even have facial palsy.

    Usually GB Syndrome presents 10-12 days after any infection, could be due to gastroenteritis, respiratory infection, or sometimes, vaccine-related also. It has a seasonal trend and attacks during winter/monsoons. As Covid-19 is also a viral infection caused by a neurotropic virus (this virus implies an affinity towards the nervous system), it can trigger GB Syndrome, say doctors.

    Doctors from Apollo Hospitals, Bannerghatta Road, saw many cases where Covid patients were also seen getting infected with the GB Syndrome. “Usually, we see 5-6 cases spread across the year. However, last year, especially around September-October when the cases were at peak in Bengaluru, we witnessed a spike in GBS cases. This is the first time we have seen such a trend. We have seen more than 10 Covid patients diagnosed with GB Syndrome in our hospital.

    The condition usually affects people who are middle-aged and/or those between 50 and 60 years,” said Dr Suryanarayana Sharma, Senior Consultant – Neurologist, Apollo Hospitals, Bannerghatta Road. Here is a case study. A 43 -year-old man complained of weakness in both lower limbs. On testing, the patient was found to be Covid-19 positive. Within a day or two, he had weakness in all the four limbs of the body, which was when the doctors considered that there was a possibility of GB Syndrome.

    “We did a nerve conduction test and spinal fluid analysis and brain fluid analysis. All the tests confirmed the diagnosis for GB Syndrome. The patient was then started on IVIG — a treatment for GB Syndrome. Eventually, the patient began to improve. He said, “Standard measures such as Covid-19 prevention, sanitization, social distancing and use of masks can help prevent any viral infection.”