— By Dr KK Aggarwal
Excerpts India Today: Bhilwara, nearly 250 km from Jaipur, has become the epicentre of the state’s coronavirus scare with a COVID 19 cluster outbreak. Community transmission had started in Bhilwara and Jhunjhunu.
Some guests from Saudi Arabia were staying at the residence of one of the doctors.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the district reached 19 — including 15 medical practitioners pushing the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state to 41. The other three include the wife of a doctor who works at a private hospital, where 15 doctors have tested positive.
The same private hospital had treated a suspected coronavirus-positive patient with pneumonia. The patient had been admitted at the private hospital in Bhilwara on March 8. A day after staying in the ICU, he was referred to Jaipur on March 9. Also one person died of suspected Covid-19.
SARS-CoV-2 Persists in Stool After Respiratory Samples Test Negative
Excerpts Reuters: SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA can persist in stool samples long after respiratory samples have tested negative for the virus that causes COVID-19. Dr. Xi Huang from Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China and colleagues reported that among the 41 patients (55%) with positive fecal and respiratory samples, respiratory samples remained positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA for a mean 16.7 days and fecal samples remained positive for a mean 27.9 days after first symptom onset, according to the online report in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
One patient had positive fecal samples for 33 days continuously after the respiratory samples became negative, and another patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in their fecal samples for 47 days after first symptom onset.
The surprising thing is that most of these patients do not have GI symptoms even though they have viral RNA in the faeces.
We know that in patients infected with Ebola, the virus may persist for months in the testes or eyes even after recovery and can infect others and keep the epidemic going.
Bhilwara fights Coronavirus
#Rajasthan: Bhilwara District Collector urged people with folded hands to #StayAtHome as situation there is now in control. He announced major steps to be taken in further days of lock down. It is expected, #Corona will be contained soon there. #BhilwaraFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/wHKg0XgsE9
— Newsroom Post (@NewsroomPostCom) March 30, 2020
((The writer is President, CMAAO, HCFI and Past national President IMA))