Dr Mohammed Jameel is working in a COVID clinic in the USA. In view of escalating Covid cases in Telangana, he prepared a short video talk especially for the people of Telangana in which he recommends certain precautions and prescribes some medicines to be taken at home.
Symptoms
The doctor says, Covid-19 is a viral infection but many things about this virus are still unknown. It primarily affects the lungs; fever and cough are its major symptoms. He adds, in Telangana, there is a lack of screening facility and it is not being done properly.
Precautions
If someone is having 100o F temperature and cough, he must isolate himself in a separate room. Nobody must be allowed to enter the room and the patient should not go out of the room either. Everyone must wash their hands frequently. If the patient or someone at home coughs, they should cover their nose with their elbows (as shown in the video).
Medicines for COVID-19
For fever, a patient should take Dolo tablet for every six hours. And for cough, TusQ or Robitussin must be taken and a humidifier should be kept in the patient’s room. He should not go out of the room even for taking food. Someone else must keep the food outside the door and the patient should take it inside carefully. He himself should clean the utensils and keep them back in the same place.
A patient must follow this procedure for at least 14 days. If there are no signs of cough or fever after 14 days, for another 24 hours, he can go outside. Otherwise, he will infect the old people in his family.
To increase his immunity a patient should take vitamin like D3 and also other home remedies like ginger, lemon and honey.
When is the emergency?
Dr Jameel furthers says, If the patient’s phlegm is yellow and if there is blood in it and high fever up to 103O F, or if he is breathing with difficulty and feeling tightness in his chest, then he should ask a doctor in any clinic to check his lungs. If the lungs are clear, there is no need to get admitted in the hospital. If there is severe shortness of breath, then the patient must go immediately to emergency room.
Right to Information
Dr Jameel further adds; it has been known that the doctors in India are not informing patient’s attendants about his health status. Therefore, he advises the relatives of the patient to take power of attorney from the patient, which will help them in communicating with the doctors in the hospital without any hesitation.
He says, if the patient is under treatment in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) then the first thing the relatives should inquire with the doctors is about the protocol they are following and the level of oxygen. If the patient is on ventilator, then they should ask about the Arterial Blood Gases (ABG) and should take that report daily. In that report, you have to check pCO2 which must be 35-45 and check whether it has increased or decreased. You must obtain the daily laboratory report to know the kidney functions and liver functions to know whether there is multi organ failure. A patient’s relative should discuss on all these things with the doctor. They should also take daily Complete Metabolic Profile (CMP) report.
Another important thing you should know that what medicines they are giving to the patient. The medicines that are recommended by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are: Azithromycin, Chloroquine, Remdesivir, Toci. Now, they are using plasma of people who have recovered from Covid-19.
He further adds, as a relative of the patient you have a right to information. If the doctors do not cooperate, you can expose them on the social media. It has come to the knowledge that doctors, on the pretext of being busy are hesitant to share the details with the patients and their relatives—this is something deplorable.
Dr Mohammed Jameel’s request
Dr Jameel requests the doctors in India to cooperate with any ONE relative of the patient and explain him in layman’s language, the status of the patient. He also appeals to the private hospitals to charge the expenses as fixed by the Government Order (GO), issued by the Government of Telangana, because the economy is already shattered due to the pandemic. He also requests the welfare organisations to raise funds and help the underprivileged. He further requests the doctors to establish helplines and Covid-19 clinics to check the lungs of the patients. He says, together we can defeat Covid-19 with mutual cooperation.