ABSTRACT
Introduction We document our data on the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection in cancer patients in an attempt to help optimize their management in India and globally. Material and Methods Between February 2020 and January 2021, participating oncologists from Pune (members of the Oncology Group of Pune) documented effect of COVID-19 infection in their cancer patients. Binomial logistic regression analysis as well as correlation analysis was done using Pearson Chi-square test to determine significance of clinical factors. Results A total of 29 oncologists from 20 hospitals contributed their data involving 147 cancer patients who developed COVID-19 infections. COVID-19 infection resulted in higher deaths (likelihood ratio of 4.4) amongst patients with hematological malignancies (12/44 = 27.2%) as compared with those with solid tumors (13/90 = 14.4%, p = 0.030). Patients with uncontrolled or progressive cancer (11/34 = 32.4%) when they got infected with COVID-19 had higher mortality as compared with patients whose cancer was under control (14/113 = 12.4%; p = 0.020). Complication of thromboembolic episodes (seen in eight patients; 5.4% cases) was associated with higher risk (25.6 times) of death (five-eighths; 62.5%) as compared with those who did not develop it (20/139;14.4%; p <0.001). Discussion Patients with cancer should be advised to take strict precautions to reduce the risk of being infected with COVID-19. They should also be given priority for COVID-19 vaccination. If infected with COVID-19, patients with hematological malignancy and uncontrolled cancer are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality. When they are being treated (OPD or inpatient basis), additional precautions are necessary to ensure their exposure to potential COVID-19 virus is minimized. If they get infected with COVID-19, they should be given aggressive treatment to prevent complications, especially thromboembolic episodes. If they develop any thromboembolic complication, their risk of dying are significantly higher, and management should be modified accordingly.
ABSTRACT
The ancient Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda has a treatment for symptom complexes of a variety of diseases. One such combination of Ayurvedic medications has potential for use in COVID 19 infection, and hence a prospective study was conducted with this formulation as an add-on, in COVID positive patients in a dedicated COVID hospital. The objective of the study was to evaluate the additional benefit of an Ayurvedic regime in COVID positive patients on the basis of rate of clinical improvement. The Ayurvedic formulation was administered as an add-on to Standard of Care (SoC) in patients with mild to moderate symptoms, in this prospective, open-label, comparative study. Control group received SoC only. Patients receiving Dasamoolkaduthrayam Kashaya and Guluchyadi Kwatham in tablet form in addition to the SoC showed a faster recovery from breathlessness with reduced ageusia. Patients on the treatment group could be discharged earlier than those from the control group. Addition of Dasamoolkaduthrayam Kashaya and Guluchyadi Kwatham to SoC appeared to accelerate recovery of patients hospitalized for COVID 19 infection, in terms of reduction of symptoms and duration of hospital stay.
ABSTRACT
It has been 18 months now since the world-wide outbreak of COVID 19 (Corona Virus Disease 19) and still the ongoing research is being done for disease specific medicines. During June 2020 to August 2020, an attempt was made to explore if an add-on Ayurveda regimen comprising of Dasamoolkadutrayadi Kashayam and Guluchyadi Kwatham in tablet forms can be prescribed along with standard of care; which has established the clinical evidence that there is advantage of accelerated symptomatic recovery, early discharge from hospital, reducing the duration of hospital stay. After informed consent the patients were followed up over 9 months after discharged from hospital. The purpose of the present extended study was to find the impact of disease even though patients were discharged after appropriate treatment and if there were any late effects in the add-on Ayurveda treatment group after 9 months as it was one of the first few formal studies world-wide; since there was no long term follow up data available. The study concluded that no additional late effects or symptoms or complications which were known in Post COVID phase; were observed in study group who received the add-on Ayurveda regimen as compared to the control group with conventional standard of care.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIM: India is facing the pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) just like the whole world. The private sector is the backbone of a healthcare facility in India. Presently, only a few major hospitals in the country are actively dealing with the COVID-19 patients while others are facing troubles due to lack of manpower, management, and required experience to face the pandemic. Despite the lockdown, the cases are ever increasing and each and every hospital in the country should be prepared to face this pandemic the world has never seen before. As one of the largest multispecialty hospitals and a designated COVID center, we have developed and adopted some strategies for better preparedness to face the surge of this pandemic. We would like to share our experience and hope that the strategies laid down and adopted by us will help many other acute care facilities in many parts of India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Different strategies are adopted to deal with the crisis situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our adopted strategies were directed to mitigate the challenges of administration, hospital space organization, management of staff and supplies, maintenance of standard of care, and specific COVID care and ethics during this pandemic. RESULTS: Based on strategies adopted by us, we feel more confident and prepared to deal with COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: Our approach for preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic may not be the best one but we believe that the basic managerial principles we adopted will guide many other institutions to find their path in tackling the pandemic in the best possible way. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Jog S, Kelkar D, Bhat M, Patwardhan S, Godavarthy P, Dhundi U, et al. Preparedness of Acute Care Facility and a Hospital for COVID-19 Pandemic: What We Did! Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(6):385-392.