Professor and Head of Department, Chest Disease, Government Medical College Jammu, Dr. Rahul Gupta on Saturday cautioned against the use of Remdesivir without proper diagnosis, adding that Remdesivir is not to be used in patients who are not on oxygen support or in-home settings.
He said that the drug was initially used in the treatment of Ebola and can also help reduce the duration of hospital stay of a COVID patient. He warned that the antiviral has its own side effects and should never be administered through self-diagnosis and on mild category COVID patients. "It should only be used under doctor's observation", he informed.
Elaborating on the hazards of self-medication, Dr. Rahul Gupta said that instead of taking medicines indiscriminately one should regularly monitor body temperature and oxygen saturation levels. "If oxygen saturation levels are observed to be between 94 to 90, it is a sign of caution" he said adding "If the levels are below 90, one should immediately approach a doctor."
Patients warned against using steroids
As some people are using steroids without consulting doctors, Dr. Gupta also warned against the use of steroids in the initial phase of COVID infection, especially by the mild category patients, and said that "it will cause you more harm than benefit".
Health condition of patients in home isolation should be monitored regularly
Dr. Muzaffar Maqbool, Associate Professor, Medicine, Government Medical College, Srinagar said that the health condition of positive patients in home isolation should be monitored regularly, and only vaccinated and healthy persons should attend to them, following proper COVID protocol.
More than 80 percent COVID positive patients who are either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms are being treated at home.
"It is imperative to keep watch on their health condition. In case, a patient feels difficulty in breathing or there is an increase in fever, then patients should be taken to a nearby health institute or triage centre for screening and required treatment", he said, adding, "The decrease in oxygen saturation, pain in chest and increase in fever demonstrate that it is the time for hospitalization of a patient".
