As COVID-19 cases rise, Kerala steps up monitoring

The Hindu

4 days ago

Kerala has stepped up monitoring and surveillance of influenza-like Illnesses (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) across the State as COVID-19 cases have begun to show an uptick .
According to Ministry of Health and Family Affairs data, as on May 31, Kerala has 1,336 active cases of COVID-19. One new death, of a 59-year-old with known coronary artery disease and who had been admitted with pneumonia, was also reported.
'No doubt, case numbers will go up because directives have been given to enhance testing. Public sector hospitals will do more of RT-PCR tests because we are sending these samples for genomic sequencing too, whereas the private sector seems to be doing more of Rapid Antigen tests,' a senior Health official said.
'We are keeping a close eye on hospitalisations and ICU admissions but as the variant LF.7, which is currently in circulation, is mild, we do not expect hospitalisations to go up over 0.5%. We expect this spike in cases to run its course as a normal wave, a phenomenon that will probably recur in another six months as newer variants emerge,' he added.
The new normal
Public health experts maintain that COVID-19 has been part of the new normal since June 2023, when co-circulation of COVID-19, along with influenza virus began to be reported.
'It is very difficult to distinguish between influenza and COVID-19 symptoms, just by clinical signs alone. However, in the case of influenza, administration of antivirals like Oseltamivir within 48 hours has beneficial effects. Hence, in the case of people with severe respiratory infection or are hospitalised with pneumonia, we have to test for both viruses. In the case of outpatients, clinicians may test depending on the symptoms and specific circumstances if the patient belongs to the vulnerable category,' a senior clinician said.
Three categories
Kerala will continue to follow its ABC categorisation guidelines for treating patients with ILI. Category A patients will not need treatment and can be managed at home, whereas in the of case of B1 (severe symptoms including high fever) and B2 (mild symptoms, but those with comorbidities), patients should be tested for influenza or COVID-19 and started early on Oseltamivir.
Category C patients would be the sick ones — those with fever, respiratory symptoms and red flag signs like breathlessness, chest pain, and in children, irritation and drowsiness. They have to be hospitalised, tested, and treated.
Unnecessary testing — as in testing those without any respiratory symptoms prior to surgeries — or screening for COVID-19 is not recommended.
The vulnerable group
Health officials maintained that the variant LF.7 caused only mild illness but was highly transmissible. Hence the public needed to be aware that COVID-19 was still around and take standard precautions to prevent transmission, so that those considered to be the vulnerable population — young children, elderly, pregnant women and those with uncontrolled comorbidities — were not compromised.
'We have stepped up our surveillance for ILI and it is possible that in the next few weeks, COVID-19 cases will overtake influenza cases. But we will continue to stick to our treatment guidelines. Masking, maintaining physical distancing and hand hygiene should be maintained by the public, especially when they visit hospitals. The illness caused by LF.7 — fever lasting 2-3 days, sore throat which may be accompanied by cough and extreme fatigue — is mild and only those with uncontrolled comorbidities are being admitted in hospitals now,' Health officials said.