PEOPLE WITH WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEMS GETTING ‘BREAKTHROUGH COVID INFECTION’: EXPERTS
Bhubaneswar : Even as the grim battle against the Corona virus
continued for more than 18 months, most people were puzzled about those who
had taken the mandatory two shots of the Covid vaccine to shield themselves
against the infection getting the disease.
Such infections happen in cases with low immunity even after getting the
vaccine and in many cases the patients become seriously ill requiring long
treatment, a team of experts at the SUM Ultimate Medicare (SUMUM) here said
on Wednesday.
Prof. Banambar Ray, Head of the department of Critical Care Medicine in
the hospital, told newspersons that death occurred in about two per cent of the
Covid-19 afflicted people while around three per cent of the patients required
long treatment. Of the total patients, around five per cent were getting critical
while between 12 to 15 per cent needed hospitalization.
“But around 80 to 82 per cent of the Covid-affected people with minor or
no symptoms did not require any hospitalization,” Dr. Ray said.
Prof. Ray said when a fully immunized person was infected by the virus it
was being referred to as ‘breakthrough infection’ implying that the virus had
broken through a protective barrier provided by the vaccine.
Individuals with weakened immune system were at higher risk of getting
breakthrough infection because the vaccine was less effective in such cases, he
said.
Patients who had been infected in spite of having been immunized
required hospitalization for a period of one month to five months which was
being described as ‘long Covid’, Prof. Ray said.
Brig. (Dr.) Biraj Mohan Mishra, Chief of Medical Services, SUMUM,
informed that two persons who were critically affected by Covid-19 and were
treated in the hospital for a long time had recovered due to the relentless effort
of the treating team comprising doctors, nurses and paramedics. All the
departments extended their support in this ongoing battle against the pandemic,
he said.
The two patients were 72-year-old Mr. Gautam Buddha Mukherjee, a
retired senior bureaucrat, and 21-year-old engineering student Mohammed
Shafaq Ali. Mr. Mukherjee, who had co-morbidities, had spent 16 days in ICU as
his oxygen saturation level remained low. He was treated for nearly two months
in the hospital as he suffered from long Covid, he said.
Treatment of Mr. Ali was a greater challenge as the patient remained
critical for a long time. He was on ventilator and a tracheostomy was needed to
be done as the lungs were in bad shape. “Treating this patient was very difficult
but we are glad that we could successfully bring him around,” Prof. Ray said.
He said the critical care and microbiology teams received full support from
Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Banabihari Mishra, Consultant in the general
surgery department, Dr. Satyajit Rath, Senior Clinical Nutritionist Ms. Sushree
Sangita Jena and Physiotherapist Mr. P. Balakishore.
