As the COVID 19 pandemic has engulfed the whole world, people have been following various rituals to keep themselves safe and sometimes ending up doing more harm than good to themselves. People contracting COVID-19 have been flooded with various unscientific and unverified claims of treatment, leading people in a precarious situation where the proper SOP's (Standard Operating Procedure) may not be followed. Some of the common mistakes observed are as follows:
1. Finding answers online may not be of much help as searching each and every symptom may lead to vague results and cause panic rather than doing any good. It is always better to take an expert's opinion and consult online with doctors if you have any queries.
2 . Treating with traditional medicine without having any scientific evidence. Patients and their families have been having "kadha" aggressively, thus landing up with gastrointestinal upset. People also resort to having very hot water, thus ending up injuring their esophagus and also burning it.
3. Patients also stop consuming their usual food and are too concerned about what to eat. Covid-19 positive patients have no restrictions on eating which so ever food they want. Hydration should be maintained and healthy nutritious foods should be consumed including fresh fruits and vegetables. This will widely help them evert the common symptom of covid-19 infections i.e. fatigue, lethargy, and easy exhaustibility.
4. Patient end up doing too extreme things. Some patients end up doing extreme yoga, breathing exercises, breathe holding tests too aggressively thus ending up exhausting themselves. These kinds of behaviors are extremely unnecessary and end up putting patients in both physical and mental agony. On the other hand some patients without being symptomatic end up lying on their beds with no physical activity or exercises which is not recommended.
5. In numerous cases, patients had started medication on their own, some even taking overdose and underdose thus causing adverse reactions and also making themselves antibiotic-resistant. Self-medication should be avoided at all costs and online consultation with doctors should be opted.
6. Sometimes symptomatic patients with a history of contact with COVID-19 positive patients get themselves tested and as they find their report negative for COVID-19 , they end up breaking their quarantine, thus putting others at risk. Remember a COVID-19 negative report is not the assurance that you may not be suffering from an infection, even though you asymptomatic. Consult your physician before taking any such decisions.
Remember the management of COVID-19 positive patients or suspects varies from patient to patient and it can sometimes prove disastrous if advice is not taken from doctors.