Covidology

My very first post on WordPress!

What else but to start with a capital C ! Covid – 19

The Covid-19 virus Sars cov 2 has become ubiquitous in its approximate 8 months of stay on Earth. Presently world wide more than 25 million people have been infected with the virus and India has more than 3.6 million cases . Of course, the Government would talk of the number that’s actively infected now and handout figures of those who’ve recovered. But that’s the work of all governments and frankly we shouldn’t right away start debating or fighting those figures . What’s the way forward? What are the emerging silver linings in the dark clouds so far , where we can actually do or help those who are actively involved in stopping its spread.

Corona viruses are a group of viruses which infect both humans and animals. They cause respiratory tract infections ranging from the benign ‘cold’ to the more serious MERS( Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ) and SARS( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome . The latest coronavirus havoc is due to the SARS COV 2 virus and the disease is known as COVID-19.

The first cases of this unique virus were reported from the city of Wuhan, China. The illness was an influenza like illness , causing pneumonia of a particular nature and were noted in the months of December in Wuhan. The net reports unsubstantiated illnesses of a similar nature as early as August 2019. The rapid progress of this disease across the globe and the total medical, demographic, economic impact is still being assessed by governments worldwide. It was declared as a pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020.

Our focus here will be more pragmatic. We will strive to discuss in these columns the present status of the pandemic, its likely further progress, changing patterns of the illness, what are the complications of the illness( such as the so-called Covid storm), the long term effects of the virus, the medical progress so far , including medicines and vaccines , and importantly to keep hope and cut the hype.

My take : If we strictly adhere to the norms of wearing a perfectly fitting face mask, repeated hand washing with soap and water whenever available(and in its absence sanitising your hands with disinfectants) , keeping safe distances , avoiding unnecessary visits to crowded places , follow guidelines issued by authorities from time to time , then we’ll be able to master this disease .

Dr. Prashant Kulkarni , M.D