MARGAO
Why are some Covid patients persistently positive even beyond 28 days? What about patients who have undergone sudden deterioration in their condition after getting admitted with mild infection? And, is there any answer to patients getting infected with Covid even after post-full vaccination?
Well, these and other questions have come under the scanner of the South Goa district hospital as doctors are on the job of collecting samples of patients for genome sequencing of Coronavirus.
So far, the hospital has collected two samples of patients and the same have been sent to the virology centre in Pune for genome sequencing.
With the number of patients admitted in the hospital showing further decline, the hospital is on the job to find who has experienced sudden deterioration in their condition and those who have been infected even after receiving full vaccination.
South district hospital Nodal Officer, Dr Rajesh Patil, informed that the sample collection exercise is being undertaken for the genome sequencing of Coronavirus.
“Coronavirus is known to mutate as it replicates in an infected individual. These mutations could have dangerous effects on virulence and infectivity. Genome sequencing is the process of scanning samples from infected patients to identify any genetic mutations,” he said.
Dr Patil added: “As the virus mutates into new strains, it could behave in terms of how fast it could spread, the kind of symptoms and the intensity of the disease it causes. Different variants may need new containment and treatment strategies. Mass vaccination of people to break the chain of transmission and till then following preventive measures can restrict further mutations.
The district hospital plays host to a patient, whose report is persistently coming positive even though she has been undergoing treatment for more than 30 days. “Genome sequencing will help the doctors to know whether the patient is infected with a new variant,” he said, adding that the hospital is expecting the reports of the samples at the earliest.
The hospital is also closely monitoring the condition of critically ill patients. Of the total 220 patients undergoing treatment in the hospital, around 32 patients are believed to be in a critical state, presently on ventilators. “If needed, we will take the samples of some of these patients to understand whether they are infected with a new variant,” sources said.
In the past, the hospitals, especially the ESI, used to collect samples of the people who returned from the UK to find out whether they were infected with the UK strain by sending the samples to the Pune laboratory.
