No surety whether any patient in JK died due to COVID-19 alone: Medical experts | KNO

Kashmir News Observer (KNO)

Srinagar, May 26 (KNO): Medical experts in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are unsure whether any patient has died due to Covid-19 alone. They, however, said all those who died were having underlying problems and history of fatal ailments too. Experts opined that elderly and people with underlying problems are more vulnerable to Covid-19 and in Jammu and Kashmir almost all the patients who died of Covid-19 were having underlying health problems. Talking exclusively to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), doctors association president and flu expert Dr. Nisar ul Hassan said that there is only one patient in Kashmir who died apparently due to Covid-19 with no underlying problems while rest of the patients who died so far were having underlying problems besides long medical history. “A 32-year-old man from Srinagar who had a contact history of his father died due to Covid-19 while his father was suffering from cancer. He is the only patient who apparently died due to Covid-19,” he said, adding that he uses the word apparently because there is not 100 per cent surety that he died of Covid-19 as no post-mortem was conducted on his body to check his underlying problems. He said that in India also and other countries, deaths mostly occurred in elderly people and those having underlying medical problems. He also said that people suffering from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, liver disease, lung disease and cancer are more vulnerable to Covid-19 and other viruses as they have weak immune system and they cannot sustain any sort of viral or bacterial infection. “As their immunity is very weak and they die due to minor infections including Covid-19. In these patients it becomes a sort of contributory factor or may be coincidence.” On asking then how a young patient from Srinagar who was immuno- competent died, he said that he probably had died of hyper inflammatory response of the immune system to the invading virus. “It is like a misdirected fire due to which they are getting lung injury because of hyper inflammatory response of the immune system and because of that there is any host factors like Cytocines, interleukins which ends ups in lung injury called as ARDS (Acute respiratory distress syndrome),” he said. He said that once you have hyper inflammatory response system, the defence inside your body goes disarray, however, vitamin D helps in prevention of this hyper inflammatory response. On asking about the death of a pregnant lady from Anantnag, Dr. Nisar said that Covid-19 was a just a coincidental finding in her but she died due to medical negligence. Professor Dr Farooq Jan, medical superintendent SKIMS told KNO that a 55-year-old patient from Anantnag with an underlying problem of pneumonia was the only Covid-positive patient with no other underlying problems who died at SKIMS. “Rest all other patients were having long medical history as they were suffering from chronic diseases. Elderly and people with underlying problems are more vulnerable to viruses including Covid-19,” he said—(KNO)