While this has not raised alarm as a large number of patients have been fully vaccinated and do not experience the severity seen during the first and second wave, it is not reporting many cases of Covid as most of the doctors do not report them. Not advising people with even mild symptoms to undergo tests. Even those who are advising patients to get tested say that compliance is very low.
The neighborhood general practitioner, who has proved invaluable in diagnosing Covid cases and providing treatment to patients with severe symptoms, realized sometime last month that the virus had changed symptoms when he visited several members of the same family. The members were found suffering from cough and cold.
“Since cough and cold are common during the change of seasons, initially we thought it was normal flu. But when we found that more family members were developing similar symptoms, we began to suspect that there might be more to it. Furthermore, while most patients recovered after treatment, for some the symptoms persisted and began to experience loss of taste and smell. This usually occurs around the eighth or ninth day after the onset of the flu,” said Sabyasachi Bardhan, who practices in the Ballygunge-Lansdowne belt.
his wife Shilpi Bardhani, who also practices in the field, said that some of those who got the RT-PCR test done were found to be Covid-positive. Some such patients later required hospitalization, but most recovered at home.
At the other end of the city, Devvrat Saha, who practices in the Kankurgachi-Shyambazar belt, had 40 such cases in a week, of which only one required hospitalisation. “We are seeing a significant change in symptoms. Unlike the first and second wave when COVID patients experienced dry cough, now it is wet cough or cough producing phlegm. Moreover, unlike the earlier medium and high-grade temperatures, patients are now suffering from low-grade temperature.” Saha said.
Ranjit Das, sitting in a room near Purna Cinema in Bhawanipur, says that unlike the first and second wave when seven out of 10 patients with fever and other symptoms turned out to be Covid-positive, now three out of 10 fever patients are Covid.
While the vaccinations have done their job, Das and several other GPs are now advising senior citizens and those susceptible to chest infections to get the flu shot. “We don’t know when the booster dose will be there. Many have taken their second dose six months ago. They should get the flu vaccine now,” he said.
While the fear of Covid is over, people are not taking fever lightly as they did earlier. Therefore, the GP now has almost double the number of patients in his room, most of whom are suffering from fever. A third of them test positive for Covid, another have malaria and dengue and the rest have chest infection, say doctors.
However, many GPs are concerned that unlike in the first and second wave, when patients strictly adhered to COVID protocols such as wearing masks and isolating family members who displayed COVID-like symptoms, there is now a complete need for this. Kind of disregarded. Vaccinations seem to have given rise to the misconception that they are now protected from COVID.
“From being paranoid about Covid to being downright reckless during the first wave, our attitude has shifted from extreme to extreme. Not only those who have been fully vaccinated have tested COVID positive, but also those who have been COVID earlier and are now fully vaccinated,” said Anindya Roy Chowdhury Who practices in Salt Lake and is associated with many hospitals.
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