Non-covid treatments suffer due to 2nd wave

Kaushambi resident Vijay Prakash Mathur, 77, was scheduled for a surgery in April, to remove a tumour in the brain. But when three of his family contracted Covid-19, it was postponed. It took a month for them to recover from the virus, but by then, Mathur’s tumour had grown.

On May 21, Mathur had to be admitted to the ICU and put on ventilator support. “Doctors now say the surgery is no longer an option. Had he been operated on in April itself, this wouldn’t have happened. Now, his chances are slim,” said Abhimanyu, his son.

The pandemic, especially the second wave from April, has forced many non-covid patients to postpone treatment.

Cancer

Some of these treatments include chemotherapy for cancer. “Patients do not want to visit hospitals. Yes, there are instances where Covid cases in the family have led to patients putting off treatments. In such a situation, illnesses such as cancer can progress, after which the treatment and procedures become complicated,” said Dr Shubham Garg, senior consultant, surgical oncology at Fortis Hospital, Noida, who consults 30-35 patients every week.

Dr Arun Goel, senior director of oncology, Max Super Speciality Hospital in Vaishali, said he advised his patients not to be afraid of visiting the hospital as the Covid wards are separate from cancer wards.

“I tell them that the risk of delaying procedures like chemotherapy will be harmful. However for some patients, there was no other option as their caregivers got Covid-19 and so they could not come for their scheduled session,” he said.

Dialysis

Patients who require a dialysis two to three times a week have also had to cut down. “Many patients come from outside the district and the lockdown has deterred such patients. If patients do not take dialysis on time, it can lead to complications,” said Dr Puneet Gupta, head of nephrology, Sharda Hospital,

Greater Noida. He added that currently, the hospital conducts dialysis for 200 patients a month and also has 50-60 Covid patients requiring dialysis.

The curfew in Uttar Pradesh, in force from April 30, excludes patients needing critical care.

At Max Hospital, Dr Manoj K. Singhal, senior director of nephrology and kidney transplantation, recalls one such case.

“He needed dialysis three times a week but reduced it to one/two sessions a week against our advice. Within three weeks, his condition worsened, and he developed shortness of breath. As Covid cases were surging, we could not arrange a bed for him and he eventually died,” he said.

The unprecedented rise in Covid cases has burdened hospitals. “We are going ahead with urgent surgeries but have asked elective surgery patients to wait. For people who need procedures like dialysis, we are advising home set-ups, but delay in critical care may lead to steady deterioration or even death in patients,” said Dr Deepak Verma, Internal Medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital, Ghaziabad.

Among babies

Dr Dheeraj Sharma, associate professor, paediatric cardiac surgery at Superspeciality Paediatric Hospital & PG Teaching Institute Child PGI) said congenital heart disease requires surgery within six months to a year of birth. “This golden period too has been missed in some cases. Last year, we were supposed to operate on 105 babies. But Covid and lockdown got in the way. By November, some of these children had died.” Even regular vaccinations have been affected. “Hepatitis B1, Hepatitis B2, Haemophilus Influenzae Type B vaccinations required within a year of birth have been affected,” said Dr DK Gupta, CMD, Felix Hospital, Noida .

Patients do not want to step inside hospitals. Illnesses such as cancer can progress, if care is held up, after which the treatment becomes complex. DR SHUBHAM GARG,

Senior consultant, surgical oncology at Fortis Hospital, Noida

Blood donations

Blood banks ran dry several times since last March, cutting off supply to hospitals needing it for emergencies.

“Usually, blood banks have enough stock. Blood is required often for surgeries, pregnant women, and new-borns, as well as for transfusions. We tried to help, but many times, had to ask patients to arrange it on their own,” said Dr Satyam Arora, associate professor (transfusion medicine), Child PGI.

HIV

HIV patients have to get a monthly antiretroviral therapy (ART) kit from their registered centres to keep their immunity up. Since the pandemic, these centres have been providing three months’ kits to patients. “As their immune system is compromised, they are more susceptible to Covid,” said Dr Sheel Varma, medical officer at one such centre at MMG District Hospital, Ghaziabad.

Home health care

The scenario had pushed many non-covid patients to opt for medical care at home instead of at hospitals. “We have seen a rise of 70% in home care facilities such as tele-medicine, teleconsultation, X-ray, sample collection and physiotherapy. We have also seen an increasing trend of 40% enhanced demand of our home critical care services as many non-covid patients wanted an ICU set up at home and treated there,” said Dr Shabnam Mir, consultant physician and head of clinical services at Antara, a Max Group company specializing in senior care.

District authorities said patients need not worry. “Noncovid patients should not delay treatment over Covid worries. At hospitals that treat both Covid and non-covid patients, separate arrangements have been made, so chances of contracting the virus are minimal,” said Dr Deepak Ohri, chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.