General sane advise for all:
Dr. Jayashree Gopal
1. How do we safeguard ourselves?
a. Stay at home and avoid non essential travels.
b. When you go out, use a mask
c. Once you come back home – remove chappals and shoes outside home, wash well or have a bath, do not reuse same clothes for the next day
2. What do to if I get a fever?
a. Currently we do not have enough data to know how much asymptomatic transmission is occurring in community (people who carry the virus and suffer mild or no illness). In this absence, currently, any high fever, chills, cough (persistent dry), nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, loss of smell, loss of taste, headache may be suggestive of COVID-19 infection.
b. With the opening of more labs to do the testing, it may become easier to get it tested at places other than govt hospitals.
c. If above symptoms present, go to nearest hospital and get checked out.
3. What NOT to do?
a. Stop any of your current diabetes or BP or any of your tablets
b. Go to the hospital or clinic for routine Follow-up of chronic conditions
c. Go for any gathering of more than 5-10 people
d. Take NSAIDs for fever (Ibuprofen type tablets).
e. Do NOT self-medicate with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine. These medications may interact with other medicines you are taking and cause ECG changes and irregular heart beat.
4. Are there ways to improve my immunity?
a. Zinc is believed to have strong antiviral properties. Zinc is found in mainly fish, beef oysters. Vegetarians may suffer more from Zinc deficiency. Use a Multivitamin supplement with ZINC. Also see this fact from the NIH website:
“Techniques to increase zinc bioavailability include soaking beans, grains, and seeds in water for several hours before cooking them and allowing them to sit after soaking until sprouts form. Vegetarians can also increase their zinc intake by consuming more leavened grain products (such as bread) than unleavened products (such as crackers) because leavening partially breaks down the phytate; thus, the body absorbs more zinc from leavened grains than unleavened grains.”
b. Other traditional remedies like pepper, turmeric, etc etc etc may not hurt when used judiciously.
5. Can I use paracetamol for fever till I consult the doctor?
a. Yes, Paracetamol or Acetaminophen (DOLO or CROCIN) can be used for fever. But how about allowing your fever to kill the virus? Our body mounts a fever to kill the virus. If mild fever, < 99 or so, most people can let it be for 1-2 days.
Dr. Jayashree Gopal.