As public health department, while doing door-to-door screening for the infection, could also test citizens for basic health conditions such as blood sugar, kidney, and liver function among others. They said the data from this will help the authorities come up with better healthcare plans and help arrest the spread as well as monitor high-risk patients better.
Dr. Wiqar Shaikh expressed concerns about people with comorbidities not being traced and added that the infection may prove severe for such people, leading to prolonged hospitalization or even death.
He quoted an article published in the British Medical Journal on June 15 which concluded that the risk is highest in people suffering from diabetes, obesity, and mental disorders. Dr. Shaikh also quoted the article which stated that 20 percent of people worldwide are estimated to be at higher risk of adverse COVID outcomes due to comorbidities and that the risk of death due to COVID-19 in patients with comorbidities is four-fold in the age group of 50 to 64 years and 10-fold in the age group above 85 years.
An Indian study, published in the journal Biomed Research International on April 6, concluded that in India, the risk of complications increases with comorbidities, and the effect is magnified due to the contribution of single or multiple comorbid conditions. The study concluded that diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease conferred the most severity in COVID-19.
Dr. Shaikh asked the authorities to wake up and insisted that a door-to-door survey be conducted urgently to enumerate those who have comorbidities as well as those who have a fever. He added, “The civic body along with conducting door-to-door RT-PCR tests, should also screen people from slums, chawls, etc. for basic comorbidities by doing routine blood tests which will help ascertain the high-risk category of people. Such basic tests are cheap and won*t pinch the common man.”
Dr. Santosh Bansode, Head of the Department, Emergency Medicine, Wockhardt hospitals, said, “Most people in our country don*t do preventive health check-ups and don*t know what comorbidities they may have. We have seen that people with comorbidities suffer more, so I feel that along with COVID tests, the government should do basic blood tests like blood sugar, creatinine level for kidney, and liver function tests so that we know which residential pockets have more people with comorbidities, so we can keep advanced COVID centers with all facilities to tackle serious illness ready.”
Dr. Ketan Vagholkar, is also of the opinion that citizens should get basic health check-ups done as “this will enable the authorities to identify high-risk groups requiring prompt and urgent medical attention, in case of being diagnosed with COVID-19. Health authorities, while conducting door-to-door screenings should also consider free screening for comorbidities in areas which have a vulnerable population.”
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Source: https://www.mid-day.com/amp/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/check-up-for-covid-19-get-full-body-check-done-too-experts-23232280
