Health Experts Archives - Lokmarg

Regarding the Marburg disease, which has been considered fatal by the World Health Organization (WHO), health experts in India said that a new outbreak of the virus has a high mortality rate and is capable of causing severe infections in humans but the virus has already been contained, so there is no need for Indians to worry.
The Marburg virus is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and is spread in humans through direct contact with the body fluids of infected persons, or with surfaces and materials.

Dr Sushila Kataria, Director, of Internal Medicine, Medanta, Gurugram said, “Marburg virus is a rare and highly infectious virus that can cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans. Given the high mortality rate associated with this virus, early diagnosis and treatment are essential. If one suspects that they have been exposed to the Marburg virus, they should seek medical attention immediately.”

According to the WHO, the Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent disease with a fatality ratio of up to 88 per cent. It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by the Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache, and severe malaise. Many patients developed severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.

On Protective measures, she said, “Protective measures should be taken to prevent the spread of the virus, including isolation and strict infection control procedures.”

Talking about the symptoms, Dr Kataria said within 2-21 days people who are exposed to the virus may experience fever, headache, muscle aches, weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

“The symptoms of the same typically appear within 2-21 days of exposure and include fever, headache, muscle aches, weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. As the disease progresses, patients may develop a rash, chest pain, cough, and abdominal pain. In some cases, patients may also experience internal bleeding. The diagnosis of the Marburg virus is based on a combination of clinical symptoms and laboratory tests. Blood tests can detect the presence of the virus and confirm the diagnosis,” she said.

“However, in the early stages of the disease, the virus may not be detectable in the blood. In such cases, doctors may perform other tests, such as a liver function test, a complete blood count, or a coagulation profile, to evaluate the patient’s condition,” she further explained about symptoms and diagnosis.

Dr Kataria has also said that the virus has been contained and there is no need to worry for Indians.

“The virus has already been contained, so there is no need for Indians to worry. Additionally, if strict precautions to control infections are taken and followed, then the spread can be controlled. The disease’s spread is limited because 30-80 per cent of those infected die. The virus can spread through bats, their urine, and/or their excretions. It can also spread through direct contact with infected people’s blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids, as well as through contaminated surfaces and materials. Fortunately, it doesn’t spread through the air, restricting its spread,” she added.

Till now, there are no vaccines or treatments found to treat the virus, however, there is supportive care that can improve the survival chances.

A range of potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies, and drug therapies, as well as candidate vaccines with phase 1 data are being evaluated. (ANI)

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Clearing the air around the effects of a booster dose of the vaccines, the health experts have said that there is no definite link between heart dysfunction and the precaution doses of the COVID shots.
With social media flooded with questions revolving around the effects of booster dose on the human heart, the experts came out in defence of the vaccines.

According to Dr Vivek Chaturvedi, Professor & HOD, Cardiology, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, there have been some instances of heart-related issues in the patients after vaccination, however, there is no conclusive evidence to prove this.

“This is a very thorny question because we do see heart attacks happening. Not just attacks, sometimes fluid around the heart, sometimes Arrhythmias of the heart after vaccination. But it is very difficult to confirm this because these were happening in the past also,” he said.

However, Dr Vivek said that COVID can have effects on the heart and the person getting infected with COVID may have a flared heart-related disease.

“Covid can affect the heart in many ways. The most common problem which has been found is that the people who have had heart disease in the past, their heart disease can get flared and aggravated. They can have heart attacks and heart failure and also Arrhythmia. Secondly, people who have not had heart disease but have diabetes, and blood pressure can have a heart attack, and many such cases have come which is precipitated by COVID. Thirdly, even if no heart attack is precipitated, when covid is severe, it is known to cause heart dysfunctions, heart blocks, and different types of rapid heart rate called Arrhythmias,” he said.

When asked about the increase in the deaths due to heart-related issues since the onset of the pandemic, he said, “Yes, this has been a big controversy because a lot of death was occurring at home during covid when it was at its peak because people were afraid to go out but, data that has been carefully analyzed from certain countries has shown that covid definitely had increased the risk for heart attacks.”

Dr Vinayak Agrawal, Director, Non-Invasive Cardiology, Fortis, Gurugram mentioned that the road to recovery of an individual after COVID may differ for different persons, and added that the person who needs to be hospitalised in the ICU with severe lung disease or other infections may need supervised recovery.

“Post COVID infection, the road to recovery or rehabilitation is quite individualistic. For someone, who required hospitalization or ICU care during COVID with significant lung or heart or multisystem involvement, there would obviously be a need for prolonged and supervised gradual recovery or rehab inputs,” he said.

“Since heart involvement may be seen in these mild or asymptomatic cases also, hence if you experience significant fatigue/ weakness, out of proportion breathlessness at rest or walking, chest discomfort on walking or dizziness, then a specialist consult should be sought and further investigations including blood tests like troponin levels, NT proBNP (biomarkers), ECG, 24-hour ECG (Holter), Echocardiogram or cardiac MRI may be done,” he added.

The expert advised the people undergoing recovery not to engage in moderate to strenuous exercises or gym initially for nearly six weeks.

“Go slow, and do not resume moderate to strenuous exercises or gym initially for 4 to 6 weeks post-COVID diagnosis. Patients returning to high-level sports or physically demanding occupations following confirmed heart involvement require 3-6 months or longer period of complete rest. If you continue to experience symptoms after a few weeks, consult your doctor to rule out long covid syndrome,” he said. (ANI)

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