Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Sep 5: "People suffering from cough, cold and fever for a week get Covid positive reports when a rapid antigen test is performed on them. The patients express their anger at the so called faulty tests, accusing the reports of being defective and blaming the doctors for trying to make profitable business out of it. The doctors too come under tremendous pressure on such occasions," opined Dr G S Chandrasekhar, a veteran medical practitioner and managing director of Adarsh Hospital Udupi.

In a video released on behalf of Adarsh Hospital that is meant to create awareness among the people about coronavirus infection, the experienced doctor has tried to ward off the wrong image of the testing and treatment process regarding coronavirus infection created by some individuals.

"When the people accuse us of making money by joining hands with the government hospitals, tears well our eyes. In case of people who are symptomatic, we get RT-PCR test done whenever the initial rapid antigen test report is negative. In many cases, the result we get in such a secondary test is positive, but the patients refuse to accept the finding. If the rapid antigen test result is positive, it means the patient has been infected. But if this result is negative, there are chances of the patient getting symptoms of infection later. Therefore, the doctors as per their discretion, ask the patients to undergo RT-PCR test. If this test result is also negative, we can presume that the person concerned has no infection. Therefore, the people should never get angry at hospitals or doctors as every test has its own limitations. Therefore, the doctors, on the basis of their service and experience, request the people concerned to undergo additional tests.

“Currently, the number of positive cases and death rate are mounting in both the state and our district. To prevent this, the people should trust the health department, government, and the doctors and help to bring down the cases. As much as 90 percent of the people believe in doctors and the government but regrettably, the remaining ten percent indulge in malicious campaigns about the disease. Wrong information and opinions are getting more coverage in social media. The people should not provide undue publicity to such unsubstantiated information and should always lay stress on truth and reality," he has requested.