VACCINE HESITANCY

25-yr-old man with no comorbidities dies, not vaxxed

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Omjasvin.MD@timesgroup.com

16.01.2022

Chennai: A 25-year-old youth who did not have any comorbidities died of Covid-19 at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on Wednesday (January 12). He did not get vaccinated out of fear, his family said.

Friday’s state health bulletin said Mohammed Karimullah tested positive for the Delta variant on December 26 and was admitted to RGGGH the next day. He died of Covid-19 pneumonia after battling for life in the ICU for nearly 20 days.

Dr D Sudharakan, head , critical care, RGGGH, said the patient did not have any comorbidities such as diabetes or hypertension, but was obese, weighing 110 kilograms.

“He had a 99% lung involvement,” said the doctor, who was part of the team that treated the patient.

“When we questioned his family why he didnot get vaccinated, they said it was due to fear,” Dr Sudhakaran said.

He said the patient was brought to the hospital in a critical state and was put in CPAP ventilator and highflow nasal cannula. He was given Remedesivir too.

In the first week of January, when Omicroncases began surging, 11 of the 17 patients admitted in theICU of RGGGH were not vaccinated. In Omandurar GH, eight of 10 were not vaccinated.

“Most patients admitted in the ICU are unvaccinated. Maybe, if this patient (Karimullah) had taken at least one dose, there could have been progress during the treatment,” Dr Sudhakaran said.

Data collated from the city Covid hospitals showed, 69% of those who died due to Covid in the city in December were unvaccinated.