JOIN USKarnataka's oldest Covid-19 patient dies
The state’s oldest Covid-19 patient, a 105-year-old resident of Basaveshwar Nagar, who was hospitalised on June 20 for Covid-19, has passed away.
Dr Prasanna, Managing Director of Pristine Hospital And Research Centre where the patient (74411) was admitted, said that the patient died on Saturday morning at around 9 am.
“The patient was initially doing well when he was admitted on Monday. He did not have significant lung changes when he was admitted. On Thursday, however, his blood pressure started to drop so he was put on oxygen in the ICU. On Friday morning, with continued deterioration, he was placed on non-invasive ventilator support,” Dr Prasanna said.
“By Friday night, his oxygen saturation levels began to plummet abruptly and we had to intubate him for ventilator support. His condition continued to deteriorate, however. The cause of death was respiratory failure and the onset of sepsis,” he added.
Although earmarked for supplies of Remdesivir by the government, the hospital did not receive the drugs. An appeal to Dr K Sudhakar, Minister of Medical Education by the hospital staff resulted in an assurance that the medication would arrive. “However, in the end, we had to source the medication ourselves on Friday,” medical staff said.
The drug Remdesivir is an inhibitor of the viral RNA-dependent, RNA polymerase. It has inhibitory abilities on the earlier SARS-CoV-1 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) viruses. It was identified early as a promising therapeutic candidate for Covid-19 because of its ability to inhibit the Sars-CoV-2 virus in vitro. In addition, during primate studies, the drug initiated 12 hours after inoculation with the MERs virus reduced lung virus levels and lung damage.
Dr Thrilok Chandra, Head, Critical Care Support Unit (CCSU), which oversees the care of critical or vulnerable-aged Covid-19 patients, had said that Patient 74411 had been diagnosed early. “He was identified when the disease was still in the early stages in his body. He only had symptoms of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), so the symptoms were not severe,” Dr Chandra had said.
The patient is a former government accountant who retired in 1973. He is the oldest known Covid-19 patient in the state so far.
“It’s very sad. We were rooting for him to pull through. He had no comorbidities at all. He had been bed-ridden for the last year, but he was healthy. His only potential comorbidity was his advanced age,” Dr Prasanna said.
According to government data, 34% of Covid-19 fatalities in India are aged between 60 and 74 years of age. 14 per cent are aged above 74.
Many members of the patient's family are said to be infected and are hospitalised at various facilities. The funeral will be overseen by two uninfected family members.