New Insights on COVID-19 Pneumonia from Japan & USA
#15: COVID-19 lung abnormalities is reported to affect ~50% of asymptomatic patients. Silent hypoxia seems to be a precursor to serious COVID-19 infections.
Our strategy for District Magistrates in India: COVID-19 is a war only Districts can fight.
If you think COVID-19 does not affect asymptomatic patients, take a look a this study done on patients aboard Diamond Princess Cruise Ship in Japan [paper].
54% of asymptomatic cases and 79% of COVID-19 symptomatic cases showed ground-glass abnormalities in their CT scans.
This fact, combined with the knowledge that almost 80% affected by COVID-19 are asymptomatic leads us to the understanding that it is best to act in favor of cutting transmission rather than risking any long term damage in those affected.
COVID-19 pneumonia is very different from ordinary pneumonia.
Pneumonia is an infection in the lungs that causes pain, discomfort, and lack of oxygen caused due to accumulation of fluids in the lungs. The novel virus’ pneumonia, however, is a snake slithering in darkness. You never know when it will strike you, but when it does, it can be deadly.
Silent Hypoxia develops into acute respiratory failure
When COVID-19 infects the lungs to cause pneumonia, the patients do not feel short of breath. But the oxygen levels have been observed to be as low as 50 percent! This is what the doctors are calling silent hypoxia or happy hypoxia.
A few days after infection, the patients develop acute respiratory failure. At this point, only ventilators can save them. If patients can be screened for pneumonia beforehand, we can prevent them from reaching an advanced stage of the infection.
Similar observations have been made in India.
How to screen for COVID-19 pneumonia?
Pulse Oximetry
A seemingly simple yet efficient technique that can detect oxygen levels in the body using a small device that is placed on the fingertips. By monitoring the oxygen levels even in patients with mild or no symptoms can provide for an effective screening if testing kits are not available.
All patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus should have pulse oximetry monitoring for two weeks, the period during which Covid pneumonia typically develops. All persons with cough, fatigue and fevers should also have pulse oximeter monitoring even if they have not had virus testing, or even if their swab test was negative, because those tests are only about 70 percent accurate. A vast majority of Americans who have been exposed to the virus don’t know it.
- Richard Levitan, Emergency Doctor at Bellevue Hospital [NYT article]
Pulse Oximetry helps with early detection of COVID-19 in the vulnerable population.
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We write from the India chapter of endcoronavirus.org! Our efforts were critical in the US in banning flights from China in Jan & other early outbreak control measures in India & the EU.
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