‘Blood thinners vital for symptomatic patients’

Coronavirus leads to blood clots in every organ, which is commonly found in lungs, brain, kidney, heart or other major organs. “The blood clots causing coagulation leads to dysfunction of the particular organ. The risk of blood clot formation can continue for about 12 weeks after infection, even after recovery. The cases of coagulation in people with comorbidities are common, so anti-coagulation therapy is significant in such cases,” said Dr A Sathya, consultant intensivist at Rela Institute of Medical Sciences.

The anti-coagulation drugs are important even after hospitalisation in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. These drugs help in thinning the blood and thus prevent the risk of clots, added Dr Sathya.

According to doctors, the incidents of fatalities after recovering from the infection, mainly due to stroke, heart attack and other issues, was primarily because of the formation of blood clots.

“People with symptoms develop blood clots easily. There have been cases where patients suffered heart attack and were later being diagnosed of being mild and asymptomatic pandemic cases. Pandemic patients admitted to hospitals should be given anti-coagulation drugs to ensure thinning of the blood to prevent clots. Such clots are commonly found in lungs, but it is equally risky for patients to develop clots in other organs too,” said Dr Arun Kalyanasundaram, cardiology division chief at Promed Hospital.

The Health Department has also conducted several programmes to educate doctors on anti-coagulation therapy and its significance in treating COVID-19 patients.