Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Apr 16: Coronavirus infection has meddled with the health department’s calculations by proving certain pre-conceived notions about the disease wrong. The doctors are clueless about the sudden changes in the behaviour of the disease.

As per the scientists who have studied this disease, infection symptoms appear within 14 days since the virus enters a person's body. Therefore, 14-day quarantine was being mandated for people suspected to be facing the risk of getting the infection. However, in most of the cases found in the city, the symptoms appeared after the compulsory 14-day quarantine period.

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In normal course, symptoms of the infection appear within seven days since the virus enters a body. However, as a measure of precaution, people who recently came from abroad of people suspected to have come in contact with infected persons, were being kept in quarantine for two weeks, during which period, a close vigil was being kept on them. They were discharged at the end of this period.

However, in 51 out of the 80 cases from the city, the symptoms appeared after 14 days. 15 cases were reported after expiry of 28 days. There is a need to check the details of the infected cases during quarantine as mentioned in the COVID - 19 bulletin issued by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike by comparing it with records maintained by health department. If these facts are true, a patient should be subjected to test twice during a three-day period and if the results are negative, they can be released, said Dr V Ravi, head of the department of Neuro Virology of NIMHANS.

He said that currently the medical fraternity is handling the pandemic on the basis of a three-month data which is currently available, that is insufficient to provide enough data to draw definite conclusions. He said that as of now, there is not much information about the immunity power that can stop the virus from invading the body. Because, even in the blood samples of persons tested negative, both neutral and non-neutral anti bodies have been found. In some cases, symptoms appear when the virus gains in size after entering a body. Even though in many cases, the appearance of symptoms depends on the immunity system of a person, it is difficult to pinpoint the reason why this happens in some and not in others. A conclusion can be arrived at after studying the cases which appear after the expiry of the incubation period, and this is under consideration, said Dr C Nagaraj of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases.