Most Sensible Option if You are Covid Positive

Only 6% of people affected with COVID need hospitalization. If our country needs to deal only with this 6%, our death rate would be far below what it is today, and medical care would be available for those who need it.

Let's look at the 94 % who are affected with COVID, and what is their best option.

You are tested positive and you have either no symptoms or mild symptoms, like a cold cough, fever, body pains, weakness, throat pain, etc.This means that your immunity is working well against the virus and keeping it under control, and in a matter of 1 week to 10 days all the symptoms will settle down. You may develop a loss of smell and taste along the way, but you will recover without any complication with simple over-the-counter medication like Dolo 650, home remedies, Ayurveda, and Homeopathy. Be in constant telephonic touch with your family doctor, keep him informed on a daily basis. I have treated over 1300 people this way successfully.I strongly believe that over 94% of people affected with COVID can be treated this way

Where are we going wrong?

RT-PCR is the main test for diagnosing COVID and it is only 65% accurate which means 35% may be positive but will show as negative. Many among us who have tested negative could actually be positive.

NOT TESTING FOR COVID.

Let us assume that every cold, cough, fever that happens to us now is COVID, we isolate ourselves and follow the rules laid down by the Government, and we treat it as I have advised above and be done with it in a week or 10 days' time.

TESTING FOR COVID

Once you are tested positive for COVID, you follow the above line of treatment and be done with it in 1week to 10 days' time. This is possible only in 10 % of those who have tested positive.

Let me explain what happens to the rest of the 90% who are positive:PANIC!

With the second wave hitting us hard, and the fear surrounding it, the moment you are tested positive all hell breaks loose.You are flooded with advice from relatives, friends, colleagues, each one telling you their experiences and all the gory details from the news and the social media, and you get scared; you stop using your brains and let all those people take over.You hardly have any symptoms, but the moment you know you are positive, and you hear all their advice, you start to panic. When you panic, your breathing pattern changes; you breathe shallow, and in doing so you pool CO2 in your lungs, and you begin to feel breathless. you are told that your lungs are getting affected but the fact is that it is your anxiety that is causing breathlessness.Now you are asked to do the following investigations:D Dimer, C reactive protein, CT Scan of the chest

D- Dimer

Elevated levels of D-dimer are associated with any inflammation, and disease activity; it is only when the levels are extremely high it indicates any clotting problems.

C Reactive Protein

A high level of CRP in the blood is a marker of any inflammation. It can be caused by a wide variety of conditions.

The above 2 tests are not specific for COVID, they are just supportive evidence of inflammation and infection.

CT SCAN OF THE CHEST

More than 80% of the COVID patients show ground glass appearance in their CT. The moment you see the report, everyone says your lungs are involved and you are in trouble.This is not true. The COVID virus has a tendency to affect the lungs to produce inflammatory changes in the lungs. Ground glass opacity is not specific to COVID, it is seen in many inflammations and infections. These in most cases resolve on their own.

Now your doctor starts you on antiviral REMDESIVIR, which the WHO says is not effective against COVID, an antibiotic and a steroid is added to the prescription to be on the safe side. Remember when you are in a panic your doctor who is treating you will also go into a panic and ask you to get admitted. After all, he is human and he is answerable for you.

What you need to understand is that your immunity is doing a great job in containing the COVID virus, that is why you hardly have any symptoms, if not you would have within 1-2 days of getting infected, shown unrelenting fever, severe cough, and breathlessness. All these medicines are very strong and have a lot of side effects. When you consume these, they together crash your natural immunity which is doing a good job, and you begin to get worse, your condition deteriorates and you end up in the hospital.

The problem is that with the second wave hitting us hard, there are no beds available even If you want to get admitted, this adds to your anxiety and panic; you breathe shallower, more CO2, and more breathlessness and the story goes on. The medical system is doing its best but is overwhelmed, and in the process of collapsing, you need to use your common sense and logic and decide which way you want to deal with the COVID when you get affected by it.

The authorities are now saying that COVID is spreading through the air and not a droplet infection anymore, which means the spread is very fast. The way the second wave is hitting us, the chances are that most of us at some time or the other is going to get affected by COVID, and by then we need to be ready with our choice

By choosing option 1 there is a high chance that you will be done with COVID without even realizing that you had COVID.You will not invite panic and unnecessary stress and hospitalization.You will not unnecessarily block hospital beds, and leave them for the 6% who truly need them.

Take care and stay safe, follow the guidelines laid down by the government.

-Dr.Manoj Kuriakose