Dr Kaveri Nambisan, an Indian surgeon and novelist practising in the picturesque Kodagu district has been practising the treatment of Covid-19 symptom patients with Ivermectin and allied drugs. She has been doing so since the surge of the first wave and continues to do now as well.
In fact, she also wrote to the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan emphasising the significance of Ivermectin and allied drugs as a safe and economical strategy for preventing Covid-19 transmission until the vaccine reaches the last person. However, the response has been the usual, typical and lethargic "for necessary action" from the Niti Aayog!
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| Dr Kaveri Nambisan |
Kaveri Nambisan studied medicine at St.John's Medical College, Bengaluru and Surgery at the University of Liverpool, UK. After her return, she worked as a surgeon in various rural parts of rural India before moving to Lonavala to start a free medical centre for migrant labourers. She is vocal in critiques of urban centered health planning Late CM Poonacha, former Union Railway Minister was her father.
In her letter to the Union Health Minister, she has put the facts and figures in a candid fashion: Please let me place before you some urgent suggestions regarding Covid care. I am a senior doctor from rural Karnataka. All of us working in health care have seen the extent of suffering caused by Covid 19, the ripples of which have reached every household. It is the first such National Medical Emergency in hundred years. India has suffered immensely, with the loss of lakhs of lives, loss of livelihood for millions, diminishing the strength of the working population due to poor nutrition, mental fatigue and depression. Young doctors are exhausted and fearful of the future...
...From the early days, the focus has been on how we can safely treat and prevent the spread of this disease in a way that is safe, quick and affordable. Although the one method by which this could be achieved is within our reach, we have not fully utilized it.
India needs to think clearly and act fast. The drug Ivermectin is known to be highly effective against Covid 19, particularly in the early stages of the disease. It is very safe and has been in use for other conditions by several million people worldwide without any harmful side effects. Indeed it is safer than any antibiotic currently in use and it is cheap. More than 20 large clinical, peer-reviewed trials around the world (links given below) have shown that the drug Ivermectin reduces virus multiplication effectively in 74% of patients and prevents the second or inflammatory stage when complications frequently happen. Even if an Ivermectin user gets Covid, it will be a mild attack and not serious, she mentions.
Till date, there has been no follow up on her in-depth letter from the Union Health Ministry but for the crypt, three words reply, despite the fact that the health minister also happens to be a qualified doctor.
She further states in her elaborate letter to the health minister: In India, ICMR has endorsed its use and so has AIIMS Delhi but this has not received the attention and follow up it deserves. Its nationwide use is highly recommended and every day wasted means that the virus can gallop on to produce dangerous mutant strains leading to a third wave.
Vaccination of an adequate number of people will no doubt fulfil the need to stop the virus, but only if the vaccination drive is completed rapidly, with 70 % of the population vaccinated in five to six weeks...
...In India, in spite of all efforts, it will take at least eight to ten months to do it. During that time the large, unprotected population will continue to get infected and transmit the disease. The repeated mutations will lead to a cycle of repeated vaccinations and boosters and India will remain in the ‘pandemic mode’ for many years. The effect of this on the well-being of our people and on the economy can easily be imagined, she laments.
Repeated, even partial lockdowns are of temporary help and they come with the loss of livelihood for millions of Indians. No amount of subsidies will suffice to ensure good nutrition and that will lead to long-term problems among the workforce, she warns.
As a testimony to the findings of doctors worldwide, she makes a list of points that were aptly adhered to in treating the Covid-19 patients :
Recommendation based on the experience and evidence from doctors worldwide:
1. Ivermectin 12 mg daily for 7 days at the earliest onset of Covid-like symptoms. Ivermectin is given along with the antibiotic, vitamins and other supportive medicines that are now being used in early cases.
2. Ivermectin works as a powerful prophylactic in preventing Covid infections. 12 mg for three days should be given to all family members and contacts of those affected, and then followed with one tablet a week until the risk is low.
3. The above preventive measure should be used for all frontline workers – that is healthcare workers, police, traffic inspectors, shopkeeper delivery boys, auto, taxi and bus drivers, bank officials and almost anyone who has to go out of their homes to work and will come in contact with others. It is the best and safest protection against the disease in all those who are waiting to be fully vaccinated.
The use of Ivermectin will reduce Covid infections, transmission, virus mutations and death. It will drastically reduce the need for quarantine outside the home, hospital admissions and oxygen usage.
It is only among a few who reach the second or inflammatory stage of the disease that we need to do blood tests and give a short course of low-dose steroid and an anticoagulant. Some of them will need admission, oxygen and critical care. That percentage will be greatly reduced with the use of Ivermectin.
Doctors around the country and abroad have been using it for several months, with excellent results. Orissa, Goa and parts of UP have recommended its use in a big way. Many of us doctors in Karnataka too have been using it for over six months. Doctors in several countries (Israel, parts of US and UK, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Bangla Desh, Slovakia, South Africa and others) have strongly recommended its use.
Just as it is the duty of a soldier to fight for his country, it is my duty as a doctor to try and save lives. With this humble request, I entreat you as the Union Minister for Health to take a decisive step and make the use of Ivermectin mandatory in the early stages of the disease. It could be provided in the Home Kits distributed to Covid patients by ASHA workers who can also ensure that the family members receive it, she concludes.
She has also attached links to vital information regarding the use of Ivermectin in different countries and continents :
https://covid19criticalcare.com/ from FLCCC Alliance
https://bird-group.org/ from the UK
-Manohar Yadavatti
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