Home Guards seen wearing masks on Victoria Hospital premises in Bengaluru on Monday.
Credit: DH Photo/Kishor Kumar Bolar
Bengaluru: The surge in Covid cases being reported is not a cause for concern, as it is mild although highly transmissible, doctors say.
“We know that the JN.1 variant had caused a worldwide surge in 2024, but did not affect India that much. The variants currently circulating are downstream descendants of JN.1. What we are seeing on ground is that fewer hospitalisations are required due to this strain and recovery occurs in 3-4 days,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman, National IMA Covid Taskforce.
India is currently seeing Omicron subvariants XFG, NB.1.8.1 and LF.7, which are JN.1 descendants and are also being found in other Asian countries. They are causing mild infections in people.
NB.1.8.1 is reportedly behind the surge of Covid cases in China and Hong Kong. Travel is also contributing to the spread of infection, Jayadevan said.
He emphasised precaution over panic, noting that populations will continue to see waves of Covid as long as the virus continues to mutate.
“We know that these are not causing severe infections like the Delta variant prevalent in 2020 and 2021. As of now, we have no evidence that the viral strains have undergone any drastic changes — genetically or in the way the disease is caused — compared to since the end of 2021.
No over-the-counter antibiotics
Dr Jayadevan also cautioned against over-the-counter antibiotic usage, instructing people to wear masks in crowded, indoor places and avoid social visits to hospitals.
Dr Ravindra Mehta, senior pulmonologist at a private hospital in Bengaluru, said that this appears to be a regular upper respiratory tract infection.
Precautions for immunosuppressed
“These infections seem to be mild and need to be treated as such. We have not seen any Covid pneumonia cases as yet. Most people don’t require treatment except for supportive care. It is a good idea for people, especially those that are immunosuppressed, to take precautions,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Health Mission, Karnataka, has mandated that test samples reach designated government labs on the day samples are taken, all SARI cases are tested for Covid and that 150-200 RT-PCR tests are conducted daily in the state.