A virtual talk by Apollo Doctor on “Tiding Over Second Wave of Covid” held

• Once you get Corona, it is not the end of Life: Dr. Sudhir

• People are in a dilemma to choose a vaccine among the available three. It is better to take the one which has less duration between doses so that you get protection faster, Dr Sudhir informed to a question

• Crores have taken vaccines and their safety and efficacy is established. So one must not hesitate to get inoculated

• Except for pregnant women and kids below 18, it is safe for people with all ailments to take vaccine

• The 2DG, an oral antiviral drug just launched by DRDO is a very promising one. It is to be watched: says the speaker Dr. Sudhir Kumar

Hyderabad, Telangana : We got 2nd Wave because of our Complacency and Virus Mutation. If there are any to be blamed for this, it is we who needs to blame and nobody else. We started celebrating it early, became a little careless, opened up everything. That is why this second wave says Dr. Sudhir Kumar, Senior Consultant Neurologist from Apollo Hospital.

He was addressing an Informative talk on ‘Tiding Over Second Wave of Covid’ virtually on the Zoom platform on Thursday evening. It was organized by the Lions Club of Hyderabad Petals, a women’s club.

We reached a peak on May 7th when we touched 4.14 cases. Now the cases are coming down. But, the next 6 to 8 months will be crucial. Human beings are social animals. We always wanted to meet people. But, the next 6 to 8 months continue the same precautions. Avoid meeting people. What is if you don’t have social gatherings, you have social media. Make use of it. Thankfully we have it, but people who suffered pandemic like this one in 1918 didn’t have the luxury of social media. So you enjoy it and avoid physical social gatherings till the majority of the people are vaccinated, he said.

More than 98% of people are recovering. Just 1.5% to 2% of people have lost lives. Why are we making it a negative thing? There is positivity. Of course, every life is important. But, the good thing is 98 to 98.5% are recovering well, he said. Once you get Corona it is not the end of life. Don’t panic. 98% of people do not even need to be hospitalized, said Dr. Sudhir Kumar.

Kids have natural protection as their immune system is much better compared to adults. But this with a new variant, kids are not immune to it, he said.

Speaking on the Vaccine dilemma he said everybody except pregnant women and children below 18 can not take the vaccine. Every other person with every other disease or ailment can take the vaccine.

When asked which one among the three vaccines available are better he said, we have three vaccines Sputnik, Covaxin and Covieshield. Two doses are a must for any vaccine. Two doses of Sputnik can be completed with a gap of 3 weeks, Covaxin 28 days and Covieshield 12 to 16 weeks.

It is better to take the one with less gap between the dosages so that they get immuned faster, Dr Sudhir Kumar explained.

Answering another question he said no vaccine gives you 100% protection. Once you finish two dosages and have the prescribed gap you will have better protection. After that, it is very rare to see somebody die of the corona. Even when attacked by the virus the severity will be very mild and no one needs to be hospitalized. Now that crores of people are being vaccinated, their safety and efficacy is proved beyond any doubt. So nobody should hesitate and must go and get inoculated, Dr Sudhir said.

Answering another question he said it is not the virus that is psychologically killing people but the panic that is created and the isolation one has to go through when contracted he said..

Remdesivir is neither a magic drug nor lifesaving he replied to a question. Steroids will have multiple side effects. They must be used judiciously. Speaking about just launched 2DG is an oral antiviral drug that can be administered to covid patients; he said it is a drug to be watched. It is a very promising one. But we have to wait and watch for some time to its efficacy when more and more people are administered it, he said.

Even the fittest can contract viruses, he said. So fit people also need to be very careful, he said.

Participated by who-is-who of lions club members, the talk cleared many myths. It was a highly useful one, commented Saritha one of the participants.

People are subjected to fake and misinformation spread by WhatsApp Doctors. So we need the right information from the right person. That is why the Lions Club of Hyderabad Petals planned this informative session, said Mrs Sangeetha Varma, President of the club.