COVID-19 is still lurking around, yet it seems that either people feel COVID-19 is gone away, or think they have enough immunity developed that they need not to worry about the COVID-19. The second wave is now upon us. The steady rise in the number of cases show that the mechanism supposed to be in place to contain the spread of the disease is either not followed or it is not working.
Pakistan has been hailed as one of the nations that somehow has contained the virus better than others, also in comparison to its neighbors India and Iran. We don’t know the exact reason behind this phenomenon, yet the results in practical form are obvious. What we are seeing now is development of another phenomenon that is not getting proper notice. The post COVID-19 sequela in the form of heart problems and brain problems. Our Emergency Department colleagues are concerned about slowly increasing number of young patients coming to the emergency department with myocardial infarction and stroke which is not seen before COVID-19 era. The problem seems to stem from hypercoagulable potential of the virus and the response of the body to it . In this regard it is very important that the healthcare professionals including the people working in the emergency department should recognize that this trend needs to be identified earlier. We also need to work collaboratively to document this phenomenon and find solution to tackle it.
The behavior of the virus also seems to change. We have seen the havoc that it created by putting people on respirator and causing respiratory distress and finally multi system failure. Now we come across a bit milder forms of the disease from a respiratory system perspective. Although the people still have lung involvement and pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, yet these are not as prevalent as before. We can explain that by possible differences in age or co-morbids, or it could be decreased virulence or the changing behavior of the virus.
As a community it has been strongly felt that the behavior of masses is not acceptable in terms of safety. The healthcare leaders fail to convince masses that they still need to adhere to safety principles to avoid uncontrolled exposure and also to expose vulnerable population. The vulnerable population which include the elderly, the pregnant females, cancer patients, people on dialysis, people with immune deficiency, people on long term steroids, people with respiratory or cardiovascular illness and otherwise with compromised health needs to avoid the exposure to virus and it is only possible when we all adhere to safety principles. This shows that the solution is in collective and collaborative efforts and not confined to individuals trying their best to stay away from others.
Provision of vaccine will provide protection, but that day may still be further than we all expect. The vaccines are in different phases of being rolled out and available for general use, hopefully will be available next year. These vaccines are in phase three of the trial. Pakistan is also involved in the phase 3 trials and this is a step in positive direction. Till that time prevention is the best strategy. I am hopeful and pray to Almighty Allah that the people of the world be safe and that the pandemic should vanish away. Till that time please be careful with masks on, physical distancing on and frequent hand washing be adopted as a trend by all..