Expert advises extra caution for people with asthma

Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, September 11

“To decrease the chances of exposure to Covid-19, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (COPD) patients should keep their disease under control with proper inhalers and supportive treatments,” said Dr Suresh Goyal, senior consultant of pulmonary and sleep medicine at Ivy Hospital on Friday. He was addressing a virtual live health session on ‘Fear of Covid infection in asthma and COPD patients.” He said Covid infection could cause many complications in those asthma and COPD patients who fail to control their disease.

“The 20-30 per cent of asymptomatic cases may have small multiple patches in the lungs. In most of them, these patches clear spontaneously without leaving any residual damage. But in some cases, it did cause scarring of lungs. Asthmatic patients should avoid crowded places, dust, pollen and smoking besides remaining away from the pets,” said Dr Goyal, adding that in India about 35 million persons are suffering from asthma.

The chronic smokers are at risk of getting severe Covid infection as smoking leads to weakened immunity, he remarked.

“We can’t say that the pandemic will not spillover to 2021 but what we can say is that the curve will be flatter instead of rising very sharply in the coming few months,” he asserted.

The Covid-19 infection has now spread across India and has reached smaller cities and rural areas. Considering the size of our population, the number of cases will rise further for some months. Recently, we saw a surge in the number of cases, he said.

“We need to be strict and ensure that people wear masks properly, so that the infection is not spread to others,” he said. He also cautioned people against attending small gatherings. as many people might be asymptomatic. There have been instances where people had small parties and it led to the spread of the infection to others.