JOIN USClinical experts to meet on Wednesday to deliberate on fresh protocols for Omicron treatment in Karnataka
The 17-member clinical experts committee that was recently appointed by the Karnataka government to revise the Covid treatment protocols will meet on Wednesday to deliberate on discharge protocols, treatment procedure, medicine and tests in the light of the outbreak of the Omicron variant in Karnataka.
The committee comprising doctors from both the government and private hospitals with specialisation in various specialities is expected to submit a detailed report on possible revision of various Covid protocols.
"The mandate is to frame guidelines for Covid patient treatment. It was last framed in April or May this year. So we will revisit the guidelines in light of Omicron and emerging scientific literature. We will align with WHO treatment recommendations and that of GoI," Dr K Ravi, Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine, BMCRI who is also the chairman of the committee said.
"Our Covid protocols are more than six months old. We have to take into account the latest developments in treatment and discuss how to handle large-scale spread of Omicron variant patients," Dr KS Satish, Karnataka Pulmonologists' Association President, another expert committee member, said.
Dr Ravindra Mehta, Chief of Critical Care and Consulting Pulmonologist at Apollo Hospitals who is also the part of the committee said, "I would suggest a negative RT-PCR before discharging any Omicron patient. The duration of hospitalisation will be decided by potential for infectivity. If the RT-PCR is negative, the infectivity comes down. The S gene RT-PCR test seems to be a sound marker on which samples should be sent for sequencing first. Currently we have only travel history, contact history and symptoms that makes someone an Omicron suspect."
"After two to six weeks of recovery from Covid, there are chances of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). We will need methylprednisolone injections, IV Immunoglobulins, ICU beds, and oxygen delivery devices. I want to apprise the committee about this requirement besides training for the paediatricians and nurses. The government shall also restart the process of setting up of tele paediatric ICUs that were put on hold due to model code of conduct on account of polls to the Upper House." Dr GV Basavaraj, Professor of Paediatrics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, who is the only paediatrician on the expert committee told DH. He also said that the transmissibility of the Omicron variant was much higher than Delta.
Allaying fears, the doctor said, "There will be some moderate cases and may be some severe cases. But the mortality will be less as per the emerging literature from South Africa which is the worst hit. The burden of asymptomatic cases will be more. It can affect children because they are unvaccinated. Also, because children below the age of 10 have no ACE receptors required for binding of the virus. This may or may not be true with the Omicron."
The committee has expert doctors from various specialties such as medicine, geriatrics, paediatrics, pulmonology, obstetrics, cardiology, anaesthesiology and radiology.
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