– late recognition of symptoms among reasons for spike in deaths – Dr. Carpen

By Navendra Seoraj
GUYANA has seen a stark increase in the number of deaths related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) within the past few months, and while those victims were listed as “COVID-19 deaths,” the disease, in most cases, was not directly responsible.
Based on available statistics, the country has already lost 106 people to this dreaded disease, with 65 of those persons dying between September 1, 2020 and October 13, 2020.
Guyana’s situation, though serious, is not unique, said prominent Cardiologist, Dr. Mahendra Carpen during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday.
“When you look around the world, you see that Guyana is not unique…everybody is going through the same thing and if you look at the case fatality rate, Guyana is there like any far more advanced country.

There is nothing more wrong in Guyana or less wrong, we are in the same situation as everybody else in the world,” said Dr. Carpen.
There are over 38 million cases of COVID-19 globally, and while 26.3 million persons have recovered, 1.3 million persons have died.
Data released recently by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) shows that 94 per cent of Americans who have died with the new coronavirus had other underlying health conditions. The report shows that COVID-19 was the only cause of death listed in just six per cent of deaths.

On average, those who died with other underlying conditions had 2.6 additional conditions of causes of death. Those underlying conditions include respiratory diseases, influenza, pneumonia, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, dementia and more.

Authorities in Guyana have noticed a similar trend, with persons assigned as COVID-19 deaths dying from “many other things.”
In explaining the local situation, Dr. Carpen said: “A lot of people assigned as COVID-19 deaths are dying from so many other things, but just happen to be COVID-19 positive.
“There are a number of patients who died from stroke, kidney failure, diabetic ketoacidosis, but unfortunately that is the way deaths are reported during the pandemic…that is just how it is.”

A death due to COVID-19 is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed COVID-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to the COVID-19 disease.
The organisation further said there should be no period of complete recovery from COVID-19 between illness and death.
“A death due to COVID-19 may not be attributed to another disease and should be counted independently of pre-existing conditions that are suspected of triggering a severe course of COVID-19,” said the WHO.

COMING LATE
While authorities have been utilising various remedies and medication to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on patients, Dr. Carpen lamented the late recognition of symptoms, and consequently late treatment.

“People are coming late to the hospital and are not recognising symptoms…what is more important, when people come late, we have to think about what happened to them before, who they were exposed to and who they put at risk,” said the renowned Cardiologist.

It is for this reason that the “medical mantra,” “test, trace, isolate and treat,” remains important not just in Guyana, but across the world.
According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Health, the authorities have so far tested 16,215 persons, with 12,650 proving negative and 3,565 positive.
And while 2,435 persons have recovered from this disease, 106 have died so far, and there are 1,026 active cases which include 132 persons in institutional isolation, 876 in home isolation, and 16 in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The WHO had said that 81 per cent of persons, who contract COVID-19, will have mild symptoms, while 14 per cent will have severe symptoms and five per cent will need intensive care.
But, in the absence of an official cure or specific treatment for COVID-19, the organisation believes that the best way to prevent and reduce transmission is to be well informed about the virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads.

This was also the view of Dr. Carpen, who reiterated the importance of social distancing, hand-washing, wearing a mask and managing underlying conditions.