Coronavirus Outbreak: AIIMS’ Dr Prasun Chatterjee on elder care, best hygiene practices and boosting immune system

As a locked down India watches the uptick in coronavirus cases with a growing sense of anxiety, the elderly have cause for concern. The statistics are disturbing: more than 80 percent of deaths due to COVID-19 — 14 out of 17 (till the time of filing the copy) — are elderly. This is roughly in line with global numbers.

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According to statistics provided by the Imperial College London, while the average rate of death due to novel coronavirus infection is 0.5 percent to 1 percent, the rate for people above the age of 60 is significantly higher at 2.5 percent to 10 percent.

Globally, the elderly make up 45 percent of hospitalisations due to COVID-19. Fifty-three percent of these need to be shifted to the intensive care units (ICU), and 80 percent of them in the ICU do not survive. Experts say the senior citizens’ best shot at surviving COVID-19 is avoiding infection.

The shockingly large number of deaths in Italy — the highest in the world and having crossed 10,000— is being attributed to the country’s aging population, the second oldest in the world.

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The most disturbing news to emerge from the worst-affected regions of Italy is not just the large number of fatalities, but how the older people infected with COVID-19 are being left to die as a result of the healthcare system being overwhelmed. Doctors are being forced to invoke triage — where in a doctor chooses whom to extend medical aid to when the number of patients exceeds the capacity of a hospital to provide treatment, invariably choosing the young who have a better shot at survival.

As the infections grow in India at a higher rate, it’s time to take utmost care of the older members of our families. We may be one of the younger nations of the world — with 63.6 percent of our population between the age of 15 and 64 and only 5.3 percent above 65 — but the sheer numbers of the elderly are overwhelming.

This underscores the urgency of the situation in India. Dr Prasun Chatterjee, associate professor, Department of Geriatric medicine, AIIMS Delhi and consultant, WHO SEARO, also a founder president of Healthy Aging India, TEDx speaker and an author, speaks to Firstpost on various aspects of COVID-19 with a special emphasis on the elderly.

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