Recognising These Two Signs Can Cut The Risk Of Death Due To Covid-19

According to a new study, you can mitigate the risk of Covid-19 death by monitoring two signs that can easily be measured at home.

Initially, India, like the rest of the world struggled with the coronavirus, but the situation was under control to some extent. The year 2021 saw a rapid surge in Covid cases that forced shut the country to stay indoors and fueled fears of a greater spread. The death toll in India has crossed three lakh now due to Covid-19, and close to 1.5 lakh deaths have happened during the second wave of the pandemic. Now, India has reached the world's third-largest death count. But according to a new study, there might be a way to cut back Covid-19 deaths by recognising only two symptoms.

'Chest Pain' And 'Trouble Breathing' Can Lower Covid Death Risk

According to a study published in the journal Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, monitoring respiratory rate and blood oxygen saturation at home can reduce the risk of mortality with Covid-19. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people with Covid-19 must seek medical attention when they experience overt symptoms such as "persistent pain or pressure in the chest" and "trouble breathing."

According to experts from the University of Washington in the United States, these indicators may be absent even when respiration and blood oxygen levels have reached harmful levels. They further explained that people with Covid-19 might miss the window for early medical intervention by the time they experience symptoms that require immediate attention.

In a statement, cardiologist Nona Sotoodehnia at the varsity's School of Medicine said, "Most patients with Covid don't have difficulty breathing. They can have quite low oxygen saturation and still be asymptomatic. If patients follow the current guidance, because they may not get short of breath until their blood oxygen is quite low, then we are missing a chance to intervene early with life-saving treatment."

The Results

Researchers investigated the cases of 1,095 individuals aged 18 and older who were hospitalized with Covid-19 to UW Medicine hospitals in Seattle or Rush University Medical Center in Chicago between March 1 and June 8, 2020. Hypoxemic patients (low blood-oxygen saturation; 91% or less) had a mortality risk that was 1.8 to 4.0 times higher than those admitted with normal blood oxygen levels, depending on the patient's blood oxygen levels.

Similarly, as compared to patients hospitalized with normal respiratory rates, those with tachypnea (rapid, shallow breathing; 23 breaths per minute) had a 1.9 to 3.2 times higher death risk. Almost all patients with hypoxemia and tachypnea needed supplementary oxygen, which, when combined with inflammation-reducing glucocorticoids, can successfully treat acute Covid-19 instances.

"We recommend that the CDC and [World Health Organization] consider recasting their guidelines to account for this population of asymptomatic people who actually merit hospital admission and care," the researchers said.

Monitor Your Symptoms

Apart from the above two, you should also know that you should keep yourself safe from the virus infection by not letting your guard down. Make sure you are wearing your mask when you are out, avoid mass gathering and take measures to boost your immunity. Also, do not ignore any Covid symptoms such as constant headache, sudden rise in body temperature, aches and pain, dry cough, diarrhoea, loss of smell and taste, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure and loss of speech or movement. Also, do not forget to get inoculated if you are eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine.

(with inputs from IANS)