COVID surge: Be cautious, but not anxious, say doctors; Karnataka Health Minister says all ILI/SARI cases will be tested
Even as the Karnataka Health Department issued an advisory on Friday asking people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour (CAB) following a surge in cases in some States, senior virologists and epidemiologists have said there is no need to panic at this stage.
Experts said the emerging sub-variants — NB.1.8.1 and LF.7 — driving the surge in some countries are descendants of JN.1, a sublineage of the omicron BA.2.86 variant. While it is necessary to be cautious there is no need to get anxious, they said.
According to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium, one case of NB.1.8.1 was identified in April in Tamil Nadu, and four cases of LF.7 were detected in Gujarat in May. The World Health Organization has classified these sub-variants as 'variants under monitoring' and not as 'variants of concern' or 'variants of interest'.
Almost no lung involement
T. Jacob John, retired professor of Clinical Virology at Christian Medical College, Vellore, said, unlike the Wuhan and Delta variants, omicron and all its sub-variants cause only upper respiratory tract infection, with almost no lung involvement, no hypoxia, and no bleeding/clotting disorders. Hence, the mortality is very low, he said.
'Omicron and its sub-variants have become endemic everywhere, just like seasonal influenza. Occasional upsurges are expected, and one such upsurge is happening now. If it was not tested in those countries, this surge would go unnoticed,' he said.
Stating there is no need to enforce mask wearing now, Dr. Jacob said it is advisable that those visiting hospitals and other crowded places wear a mask. Following cough etiquette and maintaining hygiene will help in checking the spread of the disease. The elderly, immuno-comprimised and those with comorbidities need to be extra careful, he said.
'There is a need to strengthen and expand sentinel ILI/SARI testing and genomic sequencing. The oxygen infrastructure needs to be reviewed and stocks equal to 10 days of peak 2021 consumption should be maintained at every district headquarters,' a senior epidemiologist, who was formerly with the State's COVID -19 Technical Advisory Committee.
Testing of ILI/SARI cases
The State Health Department has directed all hospitals to test those presenting with symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI), severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) and cardiac issues. Karnataka has so far this year reported 38 COVID cases and one death. Of these, 32 cases and the death are from Bengaluru.
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said he has directed officials to procure the required testing kits. 'We have arranged to procure 5,000 RT-PCR kits and 5,000 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits immediately which will suffice for a month,' he said.
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