4 with severe acute respiratory illness in Karnataka test positive for coronavirus

Karnataka reported another death due to COVID-19 on Wednesday. The state Health Department said that patient number 177, a 65-year-old man from Kalaburagi with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) died on Tuesday night. He was tested positive for SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19 on Wednesday morning. 

As of April 8, according to the daily bulletins released by the state, four patients in Karnataka (including the man who died) who had been admitted with respiratory infections have tested positive for the coronavirus. 

While the Indian Council of Medical Research, the apex health research body, had on March 20 revised testing guidelines to include patients hospitalised with SARI, it was only April 7 that the  Karnataka government issued a notification for the same. Karnataka will also test patients with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) in containment zones using the rapid antibody test kits. 

Speaking to TNM, Manjunath, program officer for COVID-19 cases in Karnataka said that the state was still collating data. “We are still collating data on how many SARI patients were tested across the 18 districts that have reported coronavirus cases. But out of the 181 people who tested positive, 4 had a history of SARI and three patients are currently on the ventilator,” Manjunath added. 

We can determine whether community transmission of COVID-19 exists only by testing more people, who are admitted to the hospital with respiratory ailments and no travel history, Dr Nagaraj, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases in Bengaluru said. “Patients may have influenza-type of symptoms and also have a history of SARI,” he added. 

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, any person who develops “an unusual or unexpected clinical course, especially sudden deterioration despite appropriate treatment, without regard to place of residence or history of travel,” must be tested for SARS-Cov-2. It also states that anyone with prior respiratory illness, regardless of travel history, must be tested. 

SARI patients with COVID-19 so far

Kalaburagi district officials told TNM that the 65-year-old man, a fruit vendor in Kalaburagi near the Santhraswadi bus stop, developed fever on April 4 and went to the Bahmani Hospital. He started having trouble breathing on April 6 after which the doctors at the private hospital transferred him to the ESI Hospital in Kalaburagi, the government-designated hospital to isolate COVID-19 patients.

He was put on the ventilator on Tuesday and the doctors at the ESI Hospital took the man’s samples and sent it for testing. However, the man died on Tuesday evening. He was tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 after his death. Bahmani Hospital has been locked down and the medical team that treated the man has been quarantined. So far 20 primary contacts have been traced and quarantined at ESI Hospital. 

The Kalaburagi district officials said they have issued a notice to Bahmani Hospitals management for “criminal negligence”. “The hospital should have sent the man directly to ESI Hospital instead of keeping him there,” Dr Sharanabasappa said. He further stated that the district’s health officials are in the process of filing a police complaint against the hospital’s management. 

According to Kalaburagi Taluk Health Officer Dr Sharanabasappa, the officials are still in the process of identifying the man’s movements. “We don’t know whether he traveled abroad yet. We are still tracing all his contacts and movements,” he added.

Another SARI patient is an 80-year-old woman from Gadag with no travel history. She was admitted to the district government hospital when she had trouble breathing. She was diagnosed with SARI and her samples were sent for testing. She was tested positive on Tuesday. 52 of her primary contacts have been traced and isolated as well. 

The other two cases include a 52-year-old man from Kalaburagi with a history of SARI, who was tested positive on Tuesday. He too was admitted to the hospital after showing signs of breathlessness. 

On Wednesday, a 26-year-old woman from Uttara Kannada with a history of SARI also tested positive for  SARS-Cov-2.