Early use of steroids during Covid-19 may be causing drop in oxygen, as per AIIMS chief Randeep Guleria

Hospitals are seeing patients with mild symptoms requiring oxygen after they had consumed steroids

India is currently facing its second wave of Covid-19. The country on Tuesday reported 3,57,229 cases with the total tally of Covid-19 cases in the country reaching 2,02,82,83.

The health infrastructure in the country is crumbling with a dearth of hospital beds with oxygen while there is a huge requirement of these from patients. AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Monday warned against prescribing steroids and CT scans for those with mild symptoms, as per a report by the Indian Express

Guleria who is also a member of the national task force on Covid-19 said that hospitals were seeing patients with mild symptoms requiring oxygen after they had consumed steroids. He said this happens because steroids cause virus replication and a drop in oxygen levels.

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For moderate disease, only three specific treatments are effective, he said.

“First is oxygen therapy; second, when the illness is moderate and oxygen saturation is low, then there is a role for steroids; third is anticoagulants because we know Covid-19 pneumonia is a little different from viral pneumonia and promotes the clotting of blood. There could be blood clots in lungs resulting in a drop in blood saturation. Again, in mild illness, there is no role for anticoagulants,” Guleria said.

He also cautioned against overuse of CT-scan for diagnosis of Covid-19 saying excessive use could cause cancer.

“There have been studies which show that around 30-40 per cent of people who are asymptomatic but are Covid positive and got a CT scan done, also had patches but ended without any treatment,” AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria told reporters.

He said there was no advantage of doing a CT scan if a patient had mild symptoms and suggested getting a chest X-ray done instead.